National Whiners Day Date in the current year: December 26, 2024

Unlike many other unofficial holidays that have murky origins, National Whiners Day has a known and relatively long history, as far as quirky holidays are concerned. It was created in 1986 by speaker and social entrepreneur Kevin Zaborney from Caro, Michigan, who is better known for founding National Hugging Day. Zaborney wanted to encourage people to be thankful for what they have rather than be unhappy whining about what they don’t have or what they could have had.

However, sometimes you need to let yourself whine and complain before going back to being thankful. National Whiners Day is the day when you can let it all out and whine to your heart’s content, as long as people around you are willing to listen (please, don’t subject those unwilling to listen to your complaints because, as Zaborney said, whining is like the sound of nails on chalkboard).

National Whiners Day is celebrated the day after Christmas for a reason. While the holiday season is a happy time for most people, it’s also a very busy one, and the days right before Christmas are usually spent shopping for last-minute presents, preparing to host Christmas, or traveling to spend the holidays with family. No wonder that a lot of people feel exhausted on December 26, when the holiday spirit begins to fade and can’t keep them going anymore, and want to whine about something.

So if you want to whine, go ahead and do it! Bottling up your feelings and emotions can backfire in unexpected ways, so it is better to let it all out every now and then. Whine about not wanting to get back to work. Whine about that annoying cousin you always end up sitting next to at the Christmas table (as long as the said cousin can’t hear you). Whine about not getting that end-of-the-year bonus or promotion. Whine about all the cleaning up you have to do after hosting Christmas (washing the dishes is the worst, if you ask as).

However, you shouldn’t spend too much time wallowing in your unhappiness. National Whiners Day is first and foremost about counting your blessings and being thankful for what you have because a lot of people in this world have it much worse than you. So when you start feeling like you’ve whined enough, go and do something to help those less fortunate than yourself: donate to a charity, volunteer at a soup kitchen or a homeless shelter, bring over some leftovers and homemade cookies to an old lady who lives next door and has no immediate family.

National Whiners Day is also the day when its founder announces “The Most Famous Whiner of the Year”. Past winners have included Lindsay Lohan, Donald Trump (a year before the infamous 2016 presidential election), and Karen, a slang term for a whining and often angry woman who is always unhappy with something and wants to speak to the manager.