Thoughts on Labor Day 2018

First of all, let me wish all my friends--especially those of you who work for a paycheck--a very happy and relaxing Labor Day!

I come from a long line of working people. My grandfather was a mason and marble contractor in New York City in the period between the two World Wars.

It was a common trade for Sicilians and he was good at it.

I was the first in my family to graduate from college but it never became a defining factor in my working life. I've only held two jobs in the many years since graduation where my degree was a consideration and I've mostly worked in the hospitality industry.

That's very common, as you no doubt know, for people here in Florida.

I most certainly am in that large category of American workers who depend on that paycheck and would have dismal prospects if or when their gig and that precious check it generates ever stop.

I don't get this awesome holiday off every year, but am off today by shear dumb luck; I'm feeling mellow and relaxed as I type this. The Yankees are playing the A's on the tube right now; sports are happening all day and night today!

Having said that, I do agree with folks who encourage us to think about the meaning behind these "3-day weekend" kind of holidays. Days like Veteran's Day, Memorial Day, the 4th of July, and Labor Day, too! We're inclined to see them merely as another cool day off with a barbecue and/or a beach trip.

It's a wonderful thing that we do have a day to commemorate the American worker--and maybe even give him or her the day off--as having such a day was never a given but was, in fact, born from the darkest days the American worker had ever seen.

If you'd like to peruse an interesting and informative piece about Labor Day and what it's all about, just click on this.

I am so ridiculously mellow and care-free today as I relax, blog a bit and watch some sports! I  hope your holiday is going well, too, and that your working life is not a painful dead-end you take part in just to keep your head above water.

But regardless of those particulars, may today and your future have lots of work, purpose and pay! Some happiness, some fulfillment and lots and lots of dinero!

And some leisure time to reflect on work, workers and why it all matters.



A relaxed puppy today, I am,

"Bulldog Ben" Basile


© 2018 Ben Lawrence Basile