Labor Day Greetings
Samuel Gompers, as head of the American Federation of Labor, called Labor Day “the day for which the toilers in past centuries looked forward, when their rights and their wrongs would be discussed…that the workers of our day may not only lay down their tools of labor for a holiday, but upon which they may touch shoulders in marching phalanx and feel the stronger for it.” So I guess Sam liked parades.
I prefer to kick it on Labor Day. Of all the national holidays, Labor Day seems the most appropriate to give workers a day off. Employees in the United States work longer hours and receive less paid vacation than our European counterparts, to which we are often compared. We could use a break, especially after a long hot summer.
What I don’t get is the “unofficial end of summer” bit. Do we have to be in a hurry about everything? Why not drift off slowly into fall? It’s still plenty hot in most of the country and the leaves are still green. I’d prefer to make October the unofficial end of summer, or the unofficial beginning of Halloween season according to shopping mall calendars. Happy Labor Day!
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