Labor Day

I have to admit I have never ever really understood this holiday. My grandpa tried to explain it once, something about labor unions and the celebration of all that is work and the wonder of the "union" family. Mostly I heard, blah, blah, blah, unions, blah, blah, day off to celebrate.

I was once a member of a union. What Labor day meant to us at that point was, if you work on Labor day, you get paid triple time! Yes. I could work two days that week and get paid for five. Yahoo.

It still troubled me. Mostly because my Labor union didn't seem to grasp the idea that we shouldn't be working that day. It was to be a day off. But, the rest of America got the day off, and we were there to serve their needs. Hmmmmm. My brother-in-law always seemed to have the day off. There was, I supposed, something wrong with my union. He was a member of a union. Somehow, his union got the idea of the day off, just no tmine. The union I joined was a "service" related union in a service industry. My bad. Somehow, my choices were skewed, once again and I worked while others around me played.

Today I went to Wikipedia to see what I could find there. What is the "offical" word on the holiday that is Labor Day. It reads: "Labor Day has been celebrated on the first Monday in September in the United States since the 1880s. The form that the observance and celebration of Labor Day should take were outlined in the first proposal of the holiday — a street parade to exhibit to the public "the strength and esprit de corps of the trade and labor organizations" of the community, followed by a festival for the recreation and amusement of the workers and their families. This became the pattern for the celebrations of Labor Day. Speeches by prominent men and women were introduced later, as more emphasis was placed upon the economic and civic significance of the holiday. Still later, by a resolution of the American Federation of Labor convention of 1909, the Sunday preceding Labor Day was adopted as Labor Sunday and dedicated to the spiritual and educational aspects of the labor movement."

Yeah so for every holiday I worked, I have only my brotherhood to thank. Well, at least I got paid triple what I normally made, to meet the worlds needs. I just wish we could've just closed for the day, and everyone else too. So if you, like so many other Americans today, do go out and "employ" others to serve your needs today, be nice, tip big and let them know you appreciate their not having the day off, so you could have fun.