F: Is for freedom and labor

I always mixed Labor day and Memorial Day up, because I think we should labor then morn. However this year it seems appropriate. The arrival of Labor Day, is especially poignant, with the current recession. Seven million jobs have vanished and industrial production has fallen by nearly 17 percent. Most jobless workers would quickly trade idleness for the aggravations that once plagued their existance. Stress-filled commutes and irratating bosses now pale in insignificance. Unemployment is now not just for the lazy and those trying to live off the goverment. (Yes, I do know people like that.)Today instead of parades and solidarity, we punder on where we are headed. Labor Day became a national holiday in 1894. In the aftermath of the Pullman strike that year, in which nearly three dozen workers died at the hands of U.S. marshals and military troops, President Grover Cleveland was eager to appease labor. A bill designating the first Monday in September as Labor Day was rushed through Congress and signed into in law six days after the Pullman walkout ended. As the decades passed, much of Labor Day’s political edge receded until it mainly marked the traditional end of summer.
For millions of Americans who have lost their jobs, the notion of celebrating a day off from work makes Labor Day a bittersweet holiday. So today as I go off to labor because I have a job I am grateful. It is my hope that all those who wish to labor, get that chance. Labor sometimes is a blessing and that is a F.A.C.T.