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We’re in the midst of another Labor Day weekend, blithely doing what we Americans do so well…turning Labor Day into something totally different from what was originally conceived.
Labor Day actually had it’s American roots in New York State during the early 1880s. Who originally proposed the idea of a “working man’s holiday” is wide open to debate, but that it was an official in one of the Unions or Brotherhoods is indisputable. Anyway, the notion followed the usual twists and turns of a new concept, with celebrations around the first of September occurring here and there. States began falling in line and on June 28, 1894, Congress declared the first Monday of September as a Federal holiday to honor the American worker. Over a hundred years later, it hasn’t quite turned out that way.
Oh, sure, union members and government employees get a three-day weekend and a lot of us poor, honest private citizens get out of work as well…or we take a couple of ’sick days’. But do any of us think about the real meaning of Labor Day? Of the hard work, sweat and sacrifice so many American workers have made to create this country and the standard of living we enjoy? I doubt it.
Instead, Labor Day is a time to party! Hey, fire up the barbeque and throw a brisket on the grill. And don’t forget a couple or four six-packs. This is our last great fling before the end of summer. Come Tuesday, it’s time to get serious (once the hangover wears off), go back to work or school and see if we can make it to the next major holiday that is so distant at the present time….Thanksgiving.
Of course, there’s a whole lot of us who view Labor Day as something entirely different…a day to labor. Trot out to your nearest shopping mall, restaurant, auto dealership or similar retail business and you’ll find them open and in full swing. There’s all kinds of deals, discounts, bargains, etc., along with every employee working their fingers to the bone. Do they get time off for barbeque or to play in the park? Heck, no, they’re too busy making money for their employers because they’re required to work. Their employers? Most of them are out relaxing at cookouts or ballgames, enjoying the fruits of their employee’s labor.
The employees, on the other hand, will stagger home at the end of the day, tired from a full day’s work as usual. And what’ll they do for Labor Day? Get ready to go back to work the next morning. For them, every day is Labor Day.
So, have we managed to take a day intended to honor all American workers for their efforts in creating the greatest Nation on earth and corrupted it into another excuse to party? You tell me.
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