Happy Boxing Day!

It's December 26th, and it's Boxing Day in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. My U.S. readers may not know that Boxing Day exists. Even some Canadians may be vague on the details--when I was in Vancouver near Christmas a few years ago and asked a Canadian about it, he said he didn't know much about it except that department stores had Boxing Day sales. So I did a little research.

Basically, Boxing Day originated as a day on which to give money or stuff to the less fortunate. According to one theory, it began as a tradition of giving boxes of food to servants as a sort of early Christmas tip. According to another, it comes from the tradition of opening the locked box of church donations for the needy on Christmas, then distributing them the following day.

Today, Boxing Day is celebrated with after-Christmas sales, sporting events (particularly in England), acts of charity, and gatherings with friends and family.

I think Boxing Day sounds just swell, and we in the U.S. should start observing it. I particularly like the idea that, after you get a bunch of stuff for Christmas, you turn around and give a bunch of stuff to people who need it more than you do.

This site gives you five steps to celebrating boxing day. The Wikipedia article about Boxing Day is here. This site explores some myths about Boxing Day and some different theories of its origins.