Our year is full of celebrations and festivities in honor of us! There are hundreds of different holidays that celebrate hundreds of different cultures that we have all over the world. Naturally, since we are exposed to different cultures by way of friendships, business relationships or family connections, it’s only natural that we want to join in, in the festivities when they occur.

But should we? If I’m not Mexican, should I really be celebrating Cinco de Mayo? If I don’t even have 1/32nd of Irish in me, should I really be taking part in St. Patrick’s Day celebrations? Well, Scarlet Says… Why not? It’s great to celebrate and recognize others, but, to avoid being condescending and deemed a mocker of the cultural and religious holidays of others, there are two simple guidelines that Scarlet ask you to should consider:

• Costumes: Choose your costumes wisely! Everybody loves dressing up, but sometimes your innocent dressing up could easily be misconstrued into mocking a person or a belief.
• What Are You Celebrating?: Have you ever been celebrating something and thought, what the heck is this celebration even about? Ok…maybe you haven’t, because we know that it’s real easy to get lost in the celebration sauce. But, the next time you are invited out to celebrate something, be aware of what you’re celebrating. It would be a little bit of a bummer to realize that all these year’s, you’ve been celebrating something that stands for something that you are completely and morally against.

Celebrate and have fun, but always respectfully and responsibly!