National Honesty Day is Right Around the Corner

Did you know that Honesty Day existed? Me neither. However, it’s celebrated on April 30 each year in the U.S. to “encourage honesty in the workplace and the marketplace and to honor the honorable.” Invented by a guy named M. Hirsh Goldberg, it is celebrated on the last day of April because the first day of the month is April Fool’s Day, a day to celebrate lies and deceit, and Mr. Goldberg wanted to end the month on a more honest note.

So how did Mr. Goldberg, an author and former press secretary of Maryland, come up with this idea to celebrate honesty? Well, according to Wikipedia, he created the holiday in the early 1990s while doing research for and writing one of his books, “The Book of Lies: Fibs, Tales, Schemes, Scams, Fakes, and Frauds That Have Changed The Course of History and Affect Our Daily Lives.”

Supposedly, today people can ask each other questions and expect to receive very honest answers, which should probably happen most of the time anyway, but ok! Count me in. That shirt? Hideous. Do I really like your new haircut? Not, not at all because it doesn’t fit your face shape. Do I mind watering your plants while you’re away? Yes, it’s an inconvenience and plants are replaceable – throw it out and get a new one when you return. This is fun! But probably not what Mr. Goldberg had in mind.

1. Hirsh Goldberg says in honor of Honesty Day, he calls on schools to hold assemblies, religious leaders to give sermons and the media to provide coverage on the topic of honesty. He says the occasion could also be used to educate the public about scams. He also supposedly gives out “Honest Abe Awards” to individuals or companies that have committed “outstanding acts of honesty.” In 2007, the award was given to the nursing profession, for being ranked by Americans in a national poll as the nation’s most ethical occupation. After that he said he will call on the public to nominate recipients for the awards moving forward, though I haven’t seen anything else out there, which I definitely think is a missed opportunity.

We could probably all use a little more honesty in our lives, so I’m challenging you to be as honest as you can be on April 30. Who knows, maybe you’ll feel so much better, and freer, at the end of the day that you’ll decide to be a little more honest every day.