Labor Day Oddity

You know that when an entry on this blog starts with, "I know this isn't really a positive, but...", and then follows with some lamebrain attempt to shoehorn the chosen topic into the positive category, it was a rough day for brainstorming. Today is one of those days. I know this isn't really a positive, but it's a funny oddity that makes me laugh. Or at least makes me snicker softly under my breath. Or at least gives me something to write about today.

Why is it that we celebrate Labor Day by not working? Doesn't that seem backwards? Labor Day would seem to be a celebration of effort in all its forms. Why then do we sit on our duffs and do nothing but drink beer all day in honor of the event? That would be like celebrating Independence Day by chaining ourselves to a lorry, or Thanksgiving by adopting an air of entitlement. It's something like clear-cutting a forest on Arbor Day, suffering amnesia on Memorial Day, or NOT causing the decimation of an indigenous culture on Columbus Day.

Labor is the reason for the season. I think, in order to honor the namesake of the holiday, we should spend all 24 hours of Labor Day knee-deep in some sort of grueling physical labor. Some callous-ridden, bone-jarring task that makes us realize just what it really means to labor for our existence. And then, to set Labor Day apart from the rest of the calender, we shouldn't work at all for the other 364 days of the year. Then Labor Day will be what it labors desperately to be. Labor Day, the day that we labor.

And if everybody's just hanging out and being groovy 364 days a year we won't have need anymore for holidays like Memorial Day or Veterans Day.