National Cat Herders Day

You don’t have to be a cat lover to celebrate Cat Herders’ day. The only requirement is to be someone attempting to complete a seemingly impossible task or working in a job that is a continual up-hill battle, tall-order, hard-work, or in short, some activity that is like ‘herding cats.’

Have you ever seen a cowboy or cowgirl herding cats? Didn’t think so – that’s because if we ever attempted to it would take us longer than an infinite monkey to type the complete works of Shakespeare.

You’ve probably heard the saying that something is as impossible as “herding cats”, used in reference to a seemingly futile or difficult task. Granted, if you have actually attempted to literally herd a bunch of cats for some reason or the other, you would know exactly how impossible this task actually is.

All of that said, as far as we know, there’s no one out there who’s actually a professional cat herder. If there were, this day would be for those folks. This is a day for everyone who has to face the frustration of trying to manage the unmanageable, anyone whose day to day life involves insurmountable tasks.

So who belongs to this lucky cat herding group who spend their lives on horseback searching the barren lands for cats to round up? Originally it referred to project managers of one kind or another, corporate staff, that sort of thing. But the concept has broadened to include anyone who feels they might be under appreciated.

Caregivers, house moms and dads, factory workers, taxi drivers, office staff with piles of folders, or call centre folk with targets to hit. If you’re a member of this unfortunate group it’s time to count yourself lucky, because this day belongs entirely to you!

How to Celebrate Cat Herders’ Day

So you’ve decided you’re a cat herder, or that you want to use the special day to appreciate someone who is. Simply telling you to head out and celebrate this relatively unknown holiday might be like herding cats in itself as you toil for ideas of what to do.

So what can you do?

Share About Cat Herders Day

The first thing to do on this day is to let people know about it! Pick a favorite cat video or internet meme featuring a cat and post it on social media with a cat herding hashtag. Use your post to demonstrate your intentions of highlighting the great work of the overworked and under-appreciated people of the world.

Create Cat Herders Day Traditions

Depending on who you’re celebrating you can get creative and come up with your own special traditions. One idea is to draw a picture of a cat and put it in your front window, almost always neighbors catch on and imitate. Very soon your street is competing for who had the best cat picture.

Show Appreciation to a Cat Herder

Cat Herders’ Day may not be the most well known holiday but it is an important one. Regardless of its origin, the idea of appreciating the work some people do and of how hard that work can be under some extremely difficult circumstances cannot be overlooked. Having a day like Cat Herders’ Day raises our awareness of others and helps us to appreciate them more throughout the year.

From project managers to daycare workers, let those who handle impossible tasks with aplomb every day know how much you appreciate and stand in awe of them. Someone has to be there to get these tasks done, and without those who seem to be capable of herding felines of the metaphoric variety, the world may not work as well as it does!

History Of Cat Herders’ Day

While the idiom that something impossible is “like herding cats” is a popular saying now, the phrase has relatively recent origins – one story has it that IT expert Dave Platt popularized the phrase when he said that “managing senior programmers is like herding cats”.

Some folks attribute the idea of herding cats to Monty Python, the British comedy troupe, whose 1979 film Life of Brian opened with a scene related to the subject.

Another possibility is the popularity the phrase gained during the Super Bowl in the year 2000. Electronic Data Systems released an ad on that occasion boasting of their ability to serve customers, as easily as cowboys herding cats.

Since then the phrase has taken on a life of its own but in general is applied to those able to go above and beyond the call of duty, able to handle the impossible without thought of reward – in short, life’s thankless tasks.

What we can say is that the phrase is pretty suitable for what it describes. And while cats are independent, solitary, and easily distracted, many humans also share the same characteristics.

So you may well have to complete tasks that are in fact as difficult as herding cats. Cat Herders’ Day seems to have gotten started some time in the 1980s by Wellcat founders Thomas and Ruth Roy