Labor Day Holiday

I am taking Labor Day Weekend off, actually off, rather than the "off days" I usually take which still involve research or writing. I will still monitor things to make sure everyone is behaving, but I am swearing off any actual writing or work until Tuesday.

Here the sound of the falling rain
Coming down like an Armageddon flame
A shame
The ones who died
Without a name

Although the history is unknown to most people today, Labor Day began as a Federal holiday in 1894. It was a Congressional sop to mollify workers in the wake of social, economic, and political unrest during and after the Great Pullman Strike that spring. I'm continually amazed how much people take for granted, and how much of the history of labor relations in this country has simply disappeared from public conciousness over the last century.

"Labor Day" rolls off the tongue easily, evoking images of picnics and hot dogs and the end of summer at the lake. That's all well and good, but take a moment this weekend to think about what the history means and how people fought for their rights, and to make the world a better place for their children and their children's children.