(Because you know I can’t resist a challenge.)
1. Labor Day is “dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers.” (And how betterto celebrateyour achievements than spending an entire day achieving … nothing.)
2. The holiday came about after the Central Labor Union adopted a proposal involving the first “Labor Day” picnic and demonstration. (Yep – we owethis national day of restto unionized labor. Write your own joke here – I’m not swinging at a pitch that slow.)
3. Nobody actually knows who first proposed establishing a workers’ holiday. (Probably because the original comment was made in jest, and nobody actually wants to own up to being the guy at the back of the room who said “I know – let’s celebrate work by establishing a holiday where people do nothing!”)
4. The first Labor Day celebration took place on September 5, 1882. The Labor Day observance acquired national scope – and a permanent place on the first Monday in September – in 1884. (Somehow, it took two years to convince the workers of the nation that they should take an extra day off to celebrate work.)
5. The first proposals for Labor Day observances involved parades and demonstrations of American esprit de corps followed by festivals for the amusement of workers. (Notice nobody does this anymore?Turnedout it was… too much work.)
6. Various officials and educators still give Labor Day addresses at celebrations and through the popular media. (But most people are too busy resting and barbecuing to notice.)
OK: By show of hands – how many of you celebrated Labor Day by doing absolutely nothing of significance, and how many of you (read: us) spent the day working? (On second thought…Nevermind. It’s the same thing.)
Facts from the U.S. Department of Labor website. (Italics from the snark that lives in my head – or, to continue beating a dead meme: Snarks on a Brain.)
Linked to the Northern Lights OTP at The Median Sib (nice photos over there – click through and see) and the Business OT Weekend post at Woman Honor Thyself.
