I’m not so much “into” the legislated (contrived) 3-day weekends. Maybe it’s because I now work for myself, and I can take a day off any time I want to. (Or four or five in a row, but let’s not get distracted here…)
Martin Luther King, an indisputably great man, was born on this date, January 15th, and the federal holiday celebrating his birth is annually “celebrated” the third Monday of the month, despite what date it lands on.
Presidents’ Day works the same way. (Note: The apostrophe goes after the “s” because it’s a day that belongs to more than one president.) This federal holiday is on the third Monday in February, giving federal workers a guaranteed three-day respite in two consecutive months.
To create Presidents’ Day, they took away both Lincoln’s and Washington’s individual birthdays and lumped them in together with the rest of the American head honchos. So now there’s a holiday, of sorts, to “honor” one guy in January and nearly 50 presidents altogether the next month.
Seems a little inconsistent.
So why not have something like a “Civil Rights Leaders’ Day” in January? (Again, the apostrophe goes after the “s” in leaders.) Then we could make a legal fuss over all the guys and gals who stand up for what’s morally and ethically right, regardless of their color or gender.
It’s just a thought, but one I’ve held for a long time, throughout my 30 years in the classroom, and today I decided to stop keeping it to myself and to go public with my opinion, although it may not be particularly popular with certain portions of the population. (Sorry, Oprah, and Happy Birthday on January 29th!)
Free at last!