Labor Day
Lay down your burdens Bizniks.
According to Wikipedia Labor Day was first celebrated in the US when the Knights of Labor organized a parade. Since the Knights of Labor was first formed by a group of Philadelphia tailors, we can only assume all the parade marchers were nattily dressed, if not a bit wheezy from too many cheesesteaks. They had their parade twice–in 1882 and then 1884–right smack in the middle of New York (no explanation for why 1883 was skipped has been found, though maybe a few of those parade costumes were taking just a bit longer to get together than previously thought) and then WHAM, all of a sudden we had ourselves another long weekend to get drunk and sun-baked.
In most of the rest of the world, Labor Day (or May Day) is celebrated the first of May, but we yanks like to be contrary and decided to take our day of rest at the end of summer when we can cook up some hot dogs, light a few fireworks and get our last thrills in before the kids march off back to school.
Unless of course you’re self employed.
Holidays are funny things when you’re an indie pro. They tend to sneak up on you like little ferret ninjas. When you can make your own schedule, having a sort of forced “day off” can seem downright annoying. I mean, damn, we’ve got sh*t to do! And its not like we get paid to laze about like all our standardly-employed peers. It’s just lost time, lost money and lost brain cells from too many hours watching the Jerry Lewis Telethon.
But here’s the deal, Bizniks:
Labor day is for laborers. And to my way of thinking, no one works harder than indie pros. So do me a favor and relax a bit this Monday. Have a beer. Go see a rock show. Get one of those horrible tans that show off just what kind of bathing suit you were (or were not) wearing. And sometime during the day give yourself a nice little pat on the back for being so amazingly awesome.
Because you, dear Biznik, deserve it.
September 4th, 2006 at 5:31 pm
[...] During those long, dark hours of your work day, you can read up on the true meaning of Labor Day, tip your hat to the memory of Crocodile Hunter Steve Irwin, or tip back a glass and bask in the glory of the fourth episode of the Biznik Podcast. [...]