Wow, so interesting. I'm a yes; our family has pancakes for supper on Fat Tuesday, dresses up in Mardi Gras gear, and watches live feeds on YouTube for carnival parades around the world.
I need to wordsmith this kind of poll. A lot of the responses said things like, no, but I have pancakes. That feels like an observance to me.
@evan you’re also eating pancakes on commemorations?
@evan I don’t celebrate Christmas but I have a tree … and eat Chinese cuisine.
@rickscully see, I would say that by getting a tree, you are celebrating the holiday. What am I missing?
@evan Maybe the differences are in terminology. Celebrate is not the same as ... participate or observe? I was raised Catholic but I wasn't even aware of pancakes as a Shrove Tuesday thing until I was in my late teens. I like the nostalgia associated with Christmas, but I haven't been Christian in over 40 years, so I wouldn't say I am celebrating Christmas. Maybe a person who has pancakes just has pancakes on Fat Tuesday because they always have, but they may also hate their childhood religion?
@rickscully So, I guess for me "celebrate" means "have fun", "do fun things". Like celebrating a wedding or a birthday. I guess if you consider "celebrate" to mean "a religious observance", then it doesn't really match. I am going to try using "observe" or maybe just "do anything for/on" to make it clearer.
@evan Ok, that helps. My view is that if I am not celebrating the birth of Jesus I am not celebrating Christmas. If I am not celebrating Jesus' resurrection then I am probably also not having pancakes because it was Shrove Tuesday. Thanks!