The commemorative holiday marks an occasion that is meant as a time of reflection, time for remembering or honoring a particular event, person, or cause. From January until December, they speckle the calendar with days free of our nine-to-five jobs.
Not all of us are given the opportunity to take the holiday off from work, however. Most employers don’t recognize holidays like Veteran’s Day and Columbus Day. I worked for a company who withdrew its recognition of President’s Day not long ago. Now, it recognizes only six yearly holidays.
The only employer that seems to honor more holidays than any other is the federal government. I’m often reminded of this fact when—after a long day of work—I come home to my mailbox, only to discover that it is empty. The first question I often ask, “Is today a holiday?” Then jealousy usually coughs up from the mailbox when I realize that it is—especially when the holiday is part of a three-day weekend.
This fortunate occurrence of the three-day weekend means that my mail carrier gets to enjoy an added day off attached to his week, giving him the flexibility to leave town, finish domestic projects, or catch up on the current bestseller he is reading.
I’m almost positive he looks forward to the extra time, but I wonder if he recognizes the reason when the time comes; especially when he is on his boat, mowing his lawn, or engaged with Hugh Jackman at the cinema. Does he reflect on the commemoration or does the three-day weekend dilute the holiday, making him overlook the idea of why the weekend is longer to begin with? I don’t think about President Lincoln when President’s Day comes. I have to wonder if my mailman doesn’t too.
Some effort should be made to honor—even in some small way—the holiday when it arrives. Our government passed a law to highlight the day for a particular reason, and it gave this holiday to its employees (our mail carriers). For those of us who toil at work, let our mail carriers hold the torch of remembrance for us. Let them be the beacon of commemoration, even if they do so between lure rotations. We can think of them while we are at our jobs—or at least when we arrive home to our mailbox.
Copyright © Tyler Gant 2010 for Just Moving Along .com
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