Monday, January 17, 2011

I Seem to be Missing a Holiday

As I'm writing this, I'm sitting at work. On a holiday.

I realize that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day isn't celebrated everywhere equally, but it *is* a Federal holiday. So why are so many of us at work? Aren't we part of the country, too?

While I'm at it, I'd like to ask why so many people have to work on any Federal holiday? Whatever happened to holidays being the days when everyone got to have the day off? No one used to work on Christmas. Or the Fourth of July. Or Thanksgiving.

Now it seems that all of those days are simply days when companies have bigger sales to get people in.

You hear the people who say that grocery stores or convenience stores "have" to be open on holidays so that people who are celebrating can get last-minute supplies. But didn't we all survive for years by doing our "last-minute" shopping on the day before?

And I completely appreciate restaurants and movie theaters being open on holidays (and especially gas stations for those of us who drive long distances on holidays), but I also think we could survive pretty well if they were closed. In fact, I remember really enjoying those days when I was a kid and the entire family was simply home - together - on holidays.

As it stands, it seems that a "Federal" holiday really only guarantees that the Federal government is closed.

Since I can't see myself with a government job in the near future, I'd really like to at least have my holidays back.

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