James Cochran’s Blog

Ahhhh Labor Day.  A welcome day off for many.  At least in the U.S.  But what is labor day exactly?  ”A day off!”  you say.  Exactly.  It started way back in 1882 when some union workers said, “Hey!  We want a day off!”  The Central Labor Union of NYC actually said that they want, “a day off for the working citizens”.  I say thank you NYC union workers since I’ve enjoyed Labor day off most my working life.

Now you must understand that it took 12 years before Congress made it an official holiday.  In 1894 they finally said, “Hey, it’s the 90′s.  Lets take a day off.”  This started a long tradition of congress taking a day off.  Mostly physically but much of the time mentally.

Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday of September.  This year it is September 1st which is nice because we didn’t have to wait most of the week until we took the day off.  However, the problem lies in the fact that most people mark this as the end of summer.  Instead I’d rather think of it as the beginning of Football season.  The NFL as well as the NCAA start their season now.  NFL will have their first real game this Thursday when Washington faces the Giants.  Go Giants!

So thank you to those Americans that came before me allowing me to have the eight hour work day, picnics, and the start of the regular season(NFL).