It's July 1 - Pay up! - Shawn's Sense with Shawn Loughlin

March 31 just passed, which meant a lot of people - specifically viewers of Parks and Recreation - marking the occasion as the day that Ron Swanson took 94 meetings (93 scheduled and one tacked on at the end of the day). His assistant, April Ludgate, had, for months, scheduled all of his meeting requests on the same day: March 31. She did this because she didn’t think March 31 existed. When he breaks the bad news to her, she informs him that he has 93 meetings that day. She goes on to request one for the end of the day, getting us to the titular 94 meetings.

 

So, every year when this day passes, it seems worth noting for some people. There are tons of days like this, some manufactured and some not. I mean, I’m not delving into the world of kooky day declarations that can be easily Googled, but there are some fun ones on the calendar. (Weirdly enough, on one such list that I mentioned, Good Friday, April 3 on the Easter calendar - was Walk to Work Day, while the following day was Tell a Lie Day followed by Read a Road Map Day on Easter Sunday - I know we all remember how we marked our very first Read a Road Map Day and I’m sure that no one missed the chance to celebrate Something on a Stick Day last Saturday.)

 

I’ve mentioned this in the column before, but there is, of course, Twin Peaks Day on Feb. 24. I hope everyone recognized it in real time because it’s a tremendous lesson in self-care.

 

Feb. 24 is the day that F.B.I. Special Agent Dale Cooper enters the town of Twin Peaks (we know this because he dictates it into a recorder, addressing the mysterious “Dianne”) to begin investigating the killing of Laura Palmer - the central mystery of the series.

 

The day itself comes from a conversation that Cooper has with Sheriff Harry S. Truman (not that Harry S. Truman) in the seventh episode of the first season when Cooper tells Truman to, every day, once a day, give himself a present. His examples include a new shirt, a nap or a cup of strong, hot, black coffee.

 

So, just to wrap a bow on this, on Feb. 24 each year, give yourself a present. You should also be giving yourself a present every day, just as Cooper prescribes, but Feb. 24 is a start.

 

Why I was inspired to write this column is because I was just recently reminded of a special day on the Major League Baseball calendar. No, not opening day. Not Jackie Robinson Day (though that’s important and coming up on April 15). It is, of course, Bobby Bonilla Day, marked annually on July 1.

 

Now, Bobby Bonilla Day is never going to pick up the steam it needs to get going here, it being the same day as Canada Day and all, but it’s still a good lesson in long-term financial planning and money management in a world (professional sports) that’s often devoid of it.

 

Bonilla was a beefy outfielder and power hitter who played, most notably, for the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New York Mets. He was one half of the “Killer Bs” alongside Barry Bonds in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

 

He played his final game with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2001, but it’s his deal with the Mets in 1999 that gives us Bobby Bonilla Day. 

 

Bonilla deferred payment of the remaining almost $30 million on his contract until 2011, stipulating that he get paid almost $1.2 million per year, every year from 2011 and 2035. So, every year on July 1, Bonilla gets another million-dollar paycheque from a team he hasn’t played for in, now, over 25 years.

 

This year, as we all celebrate Canada Day and our national pride, don’t forget to wish a Happy Bobby Bonilla Day to those who celebrate. Their belief system matters too.