Thursday, August 28, 2014

Labor Day...Why?

Monday is Labor Day! A day where we sit by the pool one last time, grill burgers one last time, and take advantage of one more holiday sale. But what is Labor Day all about? No, really what IS it all about?

How is it that no one has demanded that Labor Day be repealed as a national holiday? I mean, liberals should hate it because it makes the unemployed, poor people, and stay-at-home Moms feel bad about themselves. And conservatives should hate it because it is counterproductive to NOT labor and well, it's a Union/Socialist/Communist holiday brought to you by Union/Socialist/Communists in Europe mainly French...GET BACK TO WORK, YOU LAZY SLUGS!

Okay, maybe we can come to a compromise. Let's call it "End of Summer Day". That way we can all be equally sad, but still no Communists! Win-win - Yey!

All kidding aside, have a great Labor Day weekend! Please feel free to rant at will...

18 comments:

Tennessee Jed said...

I thought Labor Day was an invention of Big Labor, ..... "You didn't build that by yourself crowd!" As an aside, I might sit by the pool and have burgers next week as well. Still, the notion that the efforts and ingenuity of America's workers is something to celebrate, and i plan to contemplate just how we entice more of them to have jobs and not be on the dole.

BevfromNYC said...

Actually TennJ it is a holiday connected with Big Labor, but Big Labor of the late 19th Century when it actually meant something. And the reason the first Monday in September was chosen instead of first Monday in May (International Labor Day) because then Pres. Cleveland thought that the would be too close to the date of the "Haymarket Massacre" - a standoff between unionists and the US military where many, many people died. [see Wikipedia].

I wanted to find a good clip of the musical "Working" by Studs Terkel to post along with this, but all I could find were really bad clips of high school drama club versions. It's a great musical (and book) based on his interviews with regular people doing regular jobs - construction workers, car parkers, waitress, teacher, mill worker, migrant farm workers. It's really a wonderful celebration of labor and it has some really great music. If you get a chance, read the book.

Critch said...

Ah hell, I'll stand in the sleet and snow and grill burgers if I feel like it..I never did get Labor Day...when I was a kid it meant school started the next day. My mom and dad always had to work on that day, he was a mechanic and she was a waitress.

BevfromNYC said...

Critch - I don't remember it being a great holiday either. School starting and all. It is really only a holiday for government workers and white collar workers to enjoy (or get overtime). Hospital, service, retail, and entertainers all had to work twice that day. But that being said, at least you know there won't be any bills coming to you on that day! That's something.

BevfromNYC said...

Just in case you missed it, it looks like Russia is invading Ukraine...

Kit said...

Good news! Ghostbusters is showing in theaters this weekend! Woo-hoo!
LINK

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Think of it as vacationing with extreme prejudice.

BevfromNYC said...

Kit - I saw it in the movie theatre the first time...enjoy.

BevfromNYC said...

Andrew- and once again, the UN remains focused on the perfidy of Israel,

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, I did too, with my best friend and his mother. We were teens. When the "Yes, this man has no dick" line happened, my friend said he was sure his mother would drag us out of the theater, but she was too busy laughing.

AndrewPrice said...

As for the UN, well, Israel shouldn't have invaded the Ukraine.

BevfromNYC said...

I hate it when Israel just does stuff without asking...

Anthony said...

As Andrew predicted, Michael Sam has been cut by the Rams.

AndrewPrice said...

Anthony, I saw that. He seems to be an ok but borderline player who would be on the bubble with most teams, but with the Rams he faced way too much competition for that spot.

I'll be curious to see what happens next. A lot of journalists are already saying that if he doesn't get picked up, that's evidence of anti-gay feeling in the NFL, but that's ridiculous. If this showed anything, it's that the locker room really didn't care about his orientation... only the media cared.

In fact, ESPN got into trouble the other day for doing a piece about his preseason and apparently they spent over a minute discussing his shower habits. A lot of people thought this was ESPN just trying to bait some sort of negative discussion and several Rams players responded that only the media seemed to care that he was gay.

AndrewPrice said...

Bev, Those Zionists are quite pesky! LOL!

Kit said...

The Daily Show mocked ESPN's story. Very funny, very crude.
LINK

AndrewPrice said...

ESPN deserved it. They originally tried to claim that the reason they did it was that several Rams players commented on it, but they eventually backtracked on that and apologized for the report.

tryanmax said...

Good B.C. strip today. "Wiley's Dictionary: Labor Day - National Opposite Day"

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