Monday, Monday

can't trust that day

Monday, Monday
sometimes it just turns out that way...

And now I expect that every single one of you of a certain age is signing that song. I've got the tune stuck in my head and I'll probably be humming it - or singing the lyrics that I know - for days.

But this Monday isn't just any Monday - it's actually a special Monday. Because it's Labour Day (or Labor Day if you live in the U.S.).

Labour Day is one of those holidays. It's not like the 4th of July or Canada Day or New Year's Day. We don't automatically think about what it means - we think about it as the last day of summer, the day before the kids go back to school. If you live in Vancouver, we think of it as the last day of the Pacific National Exhibition.

We expect the weather to change. We expect our lives to change. We expect traffic patterns to change. We expect the days to get shorter. We start changing our wardrobes, boots and umbrellas replace sandals and sunscreen.

What we don't do is to think of what it really means.

It means we're celebrating the thing that many of us will spend the largest part of our lives doing - we're celebrating work and those who do it. From those of us who do manual labour, who work in factories or in the fields or build bridges or houses to those of us who work in cubicles, who work in banks or spend our days on the phones making collection calls. Those who teach or nurse or fight fires or criminals. But work, for most of the population, is only a way to pay the rent and buy the groceries, to look after our kids and, increasingly, our parents.

But there are people, lucky people, who do work that they love. Of course, those people mostly don't make a whole lot of money - and many of them have to do work they don't love to pay for the work they do love - but this Labour Day, I think we should celebrate them as well.

In both the US and Canada, the support for the arts is decreasing. When people are worried about their jobs, they give things up - some of the first things to go are movies and the theater and books and new television programs. So workers in the arts - painters, dancers, musicians, actors, writers and so many more - are finding it harder and harder to make a living.

So let's remember today those workers whose work is art, whose work brings joy and inspiration to others. Let's remember those who work to bring your music and movies and books. Let's remember - not just the factory and mine and mill workers - but also those whose work is less concrete but equally important.

Happy Labour Day, everyone.

Kate

This is a duplicate post - it's on both the Witchy Chicks blog and this blog.