Happy 5767 to my Jewish friends, family, and assorted readers! May it be a healthy and a sweet year for you all.

Yes, it's that time again, folks. If you didn't wish your Jewish colleagues a happy New Year when you or they left work on Friday, then please, I beg of you, do so tomorrow when you get to the office. If you forgot (or didn't realize it was the time) to wish your real-life friends a happy new year, well, Saturday was the official day, but any time in the coming week is a great time to call and wish them a happy and healthy new year.

I wasn't supposed to be in the office Friday and not a single person wished me a happy holiday as I (or they) left on Thursday. You know, it's funny. I've worked in the same office for six years, and in the same unit for eight. In that time, I don't think anyone has ever noted any of my high holy days unless prompted by me.

As it happened, despite having taken the day off, I had a pantload of work to do, and since the holiday didn't actually begin until sundown, and since Mother Ju had only requested that I arrive at her house at 5 p.m., I went into the office for a few hours on Friday after all. When I left, my boss -- with whom I've worked for the full six years of my tenure there -- remembered to wish me a "happy Rosh Hashanah" (a perfectly acceptable thing to say, if not what Jews actually say to one another). I happily thanked her, and I guess some of the other orkers overheard the exchange, because one also wished me a happy Rosh Hashanah and another wished me a happy holiday.

So they still may have no idea what the holiday means, but it's progress all the same.

Maybe if the local TV stations would start earlier with their little holiday greeting messages, it would help people out. It often seems that by the end of Yom Kippur (and in case you're keeping track, that'll start next Sunday night and lasts through Monday at sundown -- and for future reference, it is always 10 days from the 1st day of Rosh Hashanah), people usually seem to have the "happy New Year" thing down fairly well. And I know this sounds like I'm complaining, and I am, only not entirely, but maybe this will put in context for you why I think it can be a little weird to get the good wishes late in certain circumstances:

Wishing someone a happy New Year on January 10th when you've seen them EVERY. DAY. SINCE. JANUARY 2nd but didn't mention it in any previous interchange is, well, a little awkward, right? And I can't speak for all the other Yids out there, but to me this Jewish holiday deal is pretty much the same thing. Now, if I haven't seen, spoken with, or otherwise communicated with you, then just as you would still wish me a happy New Year on January 20th or even February 1st if that was our first contact, then by gum, go ahead and wish me one well after the Jewish New Year, too. And if you just genuinely didn't know about the holiday, or even forgot (because there certainly aren't many reminders in the stores or anywhere else and you may not be lucky enough to have many friends of the Hebrew persuasion), just conk yourself on the keppie, wish a Jew a happy and a healthy, and be honest about why you didn't do it sooner. C'mon, we practically invented comedy (nyuk nyuk), so you don't need to get all gloom-and-doom-y about it! Just say your piece, conk your cerebellum again right in front of us for good measure, maybe do a pratfall as you walk away, and I'm sure we'll all be right as rain in no time.

I am so glad I could help. 'Cause I'm a helper. Happy New Year, folks!

And see, now, I have absolutely no idea what an appropriate thing would be to say to a friend or colleague observing the very solemn month of Ramadan, which begins today. Maybe one of my good readers can help me out with that.