Well, if you didn't already guess why I am here on the Labor Day holiday with a new Rant, I guess you can figure it out by this post today.
Yes, I labor on Labor Day.
My place of work is open, and for what reason, I don't know ... in actuality I do know, it is to satisfy someone's maniacal ego, that person's indifference to family life, and well, just to give us enough time to do what we are supposed to do, extra time that we really don't need to do what we are supposed to do, but it gives the person ordering us to come in extra days to "fots around" with what that person is supposed to be doing.
Yes, that is a lot of gobbledygook, but read it again, and maybe it will make sense.
The bottom line is that myself, my co-worker, and someone else is here because another someone else had decided that work is more important than the Labor Day holiday, work is more important than a day to spend with our families.
So I don't labor too much, at least here, I am going re-post Rant #797, dated September 3, 2012, because it pretty much sums up how I feel right now.
Here it is:
"Today is Labor Day.
Most of you who are reading this have the day off from work. You can frolic with your family, have a barbecue, and enjoy yourself on the unofficial last day of summer.
I can't. I have to work today.
Yes, I labor on Labor Day, and I am not too happy about it, to tell you the truth.
Sure, we get the day back to us as a "makeup" day later when we need it, but laboring on Labor Day when everyone else is off is a pain the neck, adding to the pinched nerve in my neck that I already have.
I have read the "Dennis the Menace" comic strip seemingly since I could read, and today's panel pretty much summarizes how I get into my own mind that working on Labor Day isn't that bad.
Dennis tells Joey and Margaret the following:
"What's so good about Labor Day? We don't get presents and there's nothin' special to eat."
That is about the only way I can get through this day.
And by the way, my wife is working, too, so the day isn't the best day of the year in my household.
Not by a long shot.
So while you are swimming, barbecuing, watching a baseball game, or taking it easy, think of me and my plight.
No, I don't think you will, but evidently, the world doesn't stop on Labor Day."
The only difference between three years ago and now is that my wife is not working this Labor Day, but our son is, but whatever the case, yes, I labor on Labor Day, and during the past 20 years-plus at my current job, I have labored probably 16 times on Labor Day, so the day is like a faux holiday to me.
Actually, there is another major difference this year: I have a lot of vacation time coming up, what with going to Korea and a cruise, and I can tell you that I won't be thinking of work during any of my time off, that's for sure.
So have fun as you set off on your day today.
I will have fun today too. What that fun is, I really don't know, but I will make the day fun, because there is no other way to do it.
Speak to you tomorrow.
And you just proved my point ... You'd be home today if you worked in a union shop.
ReplyDeleteAnd no, no sympathy. My industry stays open Columbus Day and Veterans Day. We do get the day after Thanksgiving off, but still...clearly not a union shop.
ReplyDeleteMy wife does not work in a union shop, and she is home. Millions of others do not work in a union shop, and they have the day off.
ReplyDeleteLabor Day, in 2016, is a celebration of workers throughout the country. Yes, it originally saluted labor unions, but today, it celebrates all workers, whether you acknowledge that or not.
My place of work stays open on many holidays, including Veterans Day and Columbus Day. You do not have to be a union shop to have a holiday off, although you will get more days off in a union shop, of course.
Today is a day to celebrate all workers, so even though I know you have to get the last word in, today is Labor Day, not Union Day, no matter what the origins of the holiday are.
Twist, twist, twist to make yourself right, it's a federal holiday honoring the labor movement, the rest of us are just along for the ride. Your wife is home because it's a bank holiday. We owe our repose to the labor movement, and for that I am grateful.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, it wasn't a bank holiday for her until TD Bank made it one for her about two years ago. I do think you can read, but as I said in the post, she worked a few years back, so yes, this year it was a bank holiday, but other years, she had to work. Again, seeing what you want to see.
ReplyDeleteSecond, we may be along for the ride from the origins of this holiday, but we are part of the nation's workforce, and the holiday has morphed into one celebrating all workers.
But as a lawyer, you make arguments where there aren't any, and you have a sick need to always get the last word. Again, you need medical help, help I cannot provide to you here. Seek a medical professional who deals with Internet related anxieties, because you do have a problem.