March 22: National Goof Off Day

What’s life without just a little mischief? What’s fun without silliness? Today, on March 22, permission is granted to do some fun you’ve always wanted. Get in touch with your inner kid on National Goof Off Day.

The word “goof” actually seems to come from a goof of spelling back in 1570. It appears in the English language written as ‘goff.’ It was in 1963 when the combination phrase “goof off” was first used. Skip ahead to 1976, when National Goof Off Day was created — actually from a prank!

The story goes that Monica Dufor created this day when she was 10 years old. In ’76, her grandfather, William Chase, was on a radio show, and had a segment called “Chase’s Calendar” and began soliciting ideas for holidays. Monica disguised her voice, called into the show, and suggested Goof Off Day (which, she found hilarious since her call was a goof-off in itself.) The next day, she confessed to her grandfather that the caller was her — to which her grandfather then showed her the local paper that touted the need for the holiday! And so, the holiday spread from there.

If there was ever an epitome film of goofing off, it came in 1986 with Ferris Bueller’s Day Off. An instant cult classic about playing hookey, and well, goofing off. So, how should you spend National Goof Off Day? Well, you can certainly watch your favorite goofy movie — like Caddy Shack, Superbad, Groundhog Day, or Ferris Bueller. You can also do some goofing off yourself. Maybe take a leaf from Bueller’s book and take a personal day, get into a little mischief, pull a prank, do something FUN! Get in touch with your silly self and spread the goofiness.

Happy Holiday everyone, and I’ll see you tomorrow.