Donn James
Sunday is Father’s Day and I would like to wish all my fellow fathers a happy day doing whatever your family has decided will make you happy…which doesn’t make it that much different than the other 364 days. I’m all atwitter waiting to see what color tie I get and I know many of you are looking forward to opening that new 3-pack of boxers or tube socks. We have certainly developed plenty of lame holidays over the years (thanks Hallmark) but Father’s Day belongs near the top of the list as fathers are honored essentially for successfully doing the one thing we think about doing all of the time.
In America, I’ve been around longer than Father’s Day since it only became law in 1972 when Nixon signed the bill. Little did he know the furor caused by this bill would force him to resign in disgrace soon after. People around the country had been lobbying for it for about 100 years but congress, in their traditional lack of wisdom, thought it might become commercialized since every bill they pass becomes nothing more than an excuse for an offensive T-shirt. We already had every man in America rushing to the flower store on Mother’s Day so those in favor of a Father’s Day argued it was only fair for America to make every Mom rush to Home Depot and have them gift wrap a toilet plunger. They picked the 3rd Sunday in June only because June was the only month left without a holiday, basketball and hockey were over and it was beginning to get warm across most of the country and everyone knows…that’s when you need a good plunger.
The idea of Father’s Day has been around a lot longer than America as they used to celebrate it during the middle ages. They would wish the 15-year old fathers a happy Father’s Day as they left for the latest crusade because they knew they were either never going to see 16 or they were going to see the sun in Constantinople and never come back to London. Those that survived the crusade were the original deadbeat dads.
I guess I’ve received my share of ‘World’s Greatest Dad’ stuff over the years but the pessimist in me doesn’t make too much of it because I know my kids’ frame of reference is really quite limited. I suppose I speak for most fathers when I say that fatherhood is the best thing that ever happened to me regardless of all the times I wanted to leave one or all of my children stranded by the side of the road. I’ve tried to be there to get them where they needed to be, tried to teach them, mostly from my mistakes, and they’re now at the age where they’ve learned some of it and ignored most of it. I’ve forgotten to pick them up fewer times than most but it rarely rains here so it’s not like they were standing out in the cold and I’ve done my best to only embarrass them when it’s funny to me. My children have made me the father I am and as the old saying goes…I smile because I’m their father but I laugh because there is nothing they can do about it.
All I’ve really ever done in fatherhood is to make a concentrated effort not to turn into Ozzy Osbourne or Al Bundy. Anything I’ve done as a father in excess of that is just gravy…and probably accidental.
Happy Father’s Day!
IMC has in excess of 2200 promotional products that will help you serve your client and we are adding new brand partners and products from our collections and our established retail brand partners. We believe IMC products speak for themselves and we can also show you ways to use and market them to your clients. Our products with decoration will have your customer coming back time and time again. Since introducing Waterford® Writing Instruments and MoMA years ago, IMC has presented more than 50 retail brands from global suppliers to enhance the selections you can offer your clients. We invite you to browse any of our 2,200+ products on the BRAND NEW IMC website to see items suitable for any occasion or event and pieces you can use to personalize your relationship with your clients. You can register as a distributor, track orders, upload art for virtual samples and even create your own flyers and catalogs of our products. We welcome you to 2017 and wish you the best and we hope you had time to stop and visit IMC at the PPAI Las Vegas show. The 2017 IMC catalog is available by request from the IMC website and is posted on the online services. We’ll continue to treat our clients professionally and get your orders to you…on time and on budget. You can also request our 2017 catalog using the catalog page of our website or download the PDF. We have products for every event and if your client has invented a holiday or celebration, we can also custom-make almost anything you can dream to make your client’s event all it can be. Take a look at our YouTube channel to see some videos showcasing popular products for some ideas on how to use them. We take our business relationship seriously and we want you to enjoy, give and receive our products and be able to use them every day. We look forward to working with you and we always have ideas to make our products work for your clients. The 2017 IMC catalog is also live and available virtually at Zoomcatalog.com and on our website if you’re tired of fighting paper catalogs and it can be viewed nicely with your laptop, iPad, tablet or phone. IMC is the recognized leader in the introduction of new retail brands to the promotional product industry and has multiple design awards from both ASI and PPAI. We have promotional products for every event, show, convention, corporate store and company program that will keep your client looking to you for new ideas. What do you say…are you busy Sunday?
IMCMiracles 