Holidays
I’m the type of person who doesn’t like too many holiday’s. Being a small business owner I tend to look at holiday’s as unproductive days - days where there is a limited opportunity to be profitable. It’s true for MLK day as it is for Labor Day and New Years Day and several other holidays on our calendar.
I would argue that most people see today as just another day off from work. The reality is that they will do whatever they want or what they couldn’t get done over the weekend. There won’t be much thought about the man who we are supposed to be honoring. I’d argue that would be because on days like today, it comes down to this - how do you celebrate MLK day? It’s a good question. It’s a question that the country has been dealing with since this became a federal holidy - what to do on this day. Recently it seems that some have turned it into a day of service. That’s not a bad idea really.
Still, for most people, it’s either just another day off or another day to work. Does that make the people who don’t “celebrate” the holiday bad people - I would say no. Just as people who don’t celebrate Christmas are not bad people. It’s just like anything, unless it carries some kind of signifigance to you, you probably could care less what the day is.
For me, the most pointless holiday we have is New Years Day. We take a entire day off so that we can do what? The only answer I can come up with is put up a new calendar and watch college football.
Labor Day has always been interesting to me as well - we celebrate Labor Day by not laboring.
July 4th I get. Christmas I get. We don’t celebrate Washington’s or Lincoln’s birthday officially anymore, even though without either of them, we would have no country. Easter’s on a Sunday, so it’s not even debateable. Memorial Day is an odd one. We remember all those who died for their country on that day. The typical way to do that in America - have a picnic. Thanksgiving is an easy holiday to figure out.
So where does that leave MLK day? If it’s important to you then I hope you are celebrating in an appropriate way. If it’s not, then do something productive.