I watch the ripples change their size
But never leave the stream
Of warm impermanence
And so the days float through my eyes
But still the days seem the same
And these children that you spit on
As they try to change their worlds
Are immune to your consultations
They're quite aware of what they're goin' through

Friday, September 4, 2009

Weekend

As we head into the long weekend, I'd like to take a second and remind everybody to remember what this weekend means. We celebrate holidays like Xmas, New Years, Easter, and the like because of our shared inheritance of culture. We celebrate holidays like Fourth of July, Columbus Day, Thanksgiving, Martin Luther King Jr Day, Presidents Day, etc as our share inheritance of history of our nation. We celebrate holidays like Memorial Day, Veterans Day and the like to honor those who live among us and have served and died to preserve what we hold dear.

This weekend we celebrate Labor Day. Because honoring Labor and the Laborers in this country is just as important as all of the above. At one time this country valued Labor and those who do it so well as to make a National Holiday, one celebrated in all states, to honor it. Most forget the domestic wars fought to gain rights for labor (including the right to organize). Take a moment this weekend to raise a glass in respect for Labor and those who worked hard so you could enjoy many of the things you take for granted that weren't always that way (40 work week, 8 hour days, vacation, sick leave, dignity, pay, and a life not dependent on the benevolence of your employer including ownership of private property and supermarkets).

4 comments:

Dr. Phil (Physics) said...

When I worked at Hope College for a year, I was amazed to find out that they held school on Labor Day. Because, like, it's a godless communist sort of holiday.

Mrs. Dr. Phil went to the Whitecaps game we had tickets for by herself...

Dr. Phil

Steve Buchheit said...

Dr. Phil, well, yes it is kinda. Just like the Fourth of July.

Stewart Sternberg (half of L.P. Styles) said...

Great post. Bravo. In a time when people spit the term "union" as though they were ridding themselves of a bad taste, we need to remember who we are and where we came from. We need to remember that without the workers in this country, regardless of the power they may feel individually, that together they can move mountains and change the face of a government. Here's to the people.

Steve Buchheit said...

Stewart, hear hear. Sometimes I'm just floored how people discount those things that made this country great and instead focus on things that add very little value. When employees who make the actual product, or push the widgets out the door became Cost Center Units, and the management begins to think that they're the sole reason the company exists, our world view has gone upside down.