This is the day we set aside each year in America to
honor those who have dedicated their lives to the working-day life. Each of us does
this; just at different levels of dedication! We all work. At something. Even
if it is attempting to get out of work, that takes effort! Sometimes the effort
is overwhelming – to get out of work.
It’s a little like college campuses when students who work so hard
avoiding academics just buckled down a little and realized that their efforts
would yield them greater good if they just stopped wasting time.
We all are like that, really. I hated painting the house. Yet I
had one of those old frame buildings poorly built to hold onto paint. It had to
do with the unknown technology in the early days about vapor barriers and
proper insulation. Water just poured from interior atmospherics through the
wall paint, into the wall cavity, and out through the exterior’s sheathing,
wood and paint layers. Paint popped off the outside walls. Pretty much on
schedule. Once each year as seasons changed and temperatures coaxed the little
evil paint molecules to leap to their death! Right into the garden down below.
Yes, suicidal paint chips abounded at 315 West Forest Avenue in Wheaton , Illinois
Oh well, I finally gritted teeth and prepared to repaint one
exposure per year. First the south exposure, followed by the east side, the
north side the following year and finally, year four, the west side. West was
worst. It took the sun’s beating 12 months a year. The south side was protected
by a line of mature maple trees. North rarely got sun in our part of the
hemisphere. The eastern exposure got the worst of the morning condensation.
At any rate, paint popped until I was too tired and
frustrated to handle it. Then we wrapped the house in foil, covered it with
foam board, and finally nailed up aluminum siding. Yes dreaded aluminum siding
in an historic enclave of an old Midwestern town. It was anathema to the
historical preservation people, but we did it anyway. For the remainder of our
23 years in that home I rarely had to paint anything. Maybe the porch, railings
and steps. But that was a walk in the park.
So, you see I expended much energy on not wanting to paint
the house. I made a production of it. It was almost obsessive. Now if I had
focused attention and funds on the final solution, I would have been much
better off.
And so it goes with most of us. Stop obsessing and begin
planning. Then onto action. The best plan, pay someone to do the damn job you hate so much. That’s the ticket!
Well, I’m glad we settled that issue. What next is on our
agenda?
Oh, back to Labor Day. You see for most years since the
beginning of time people took advantage of those who worked for them. Labor –
management disputes have been with us since the first club was discovered and
used as a tool. If someone other than the club bearer benefited from his
wielding duties, then a labor – management situation was present. Usually it
was the spouse/mate who played the management role. You know that drill all too
well. Anyhow, the mate/spouse/manager usually had something to complain about
and the club bearer, frustrated and taken unawares, yielded his power to the manager
and toed the line.
In time this did not settle well so deep and broad unrest
was fomented. This had nothing to do with the straw mattress upon which they
rested at night; no, nor the rocks that lay just below the straw. No, tossing
and turning in darkness caused brooding over unrest and finally a strike – a
voluntary cessation of labor for the benefit of others – was embarked upon.
That day the club was used only to kill the game for food of
the bearer of the club. The male/spouse/manager went hungry for meat but filled
up on green grass and other plant life – signaling the beginning of the vegan
diet. But that’s another topic for another day.
For now we will concentrate on the labor/management dispute
which, incidentally, was settled quite quickly when the club bearer realized
that there was more than food at stake. Yes, there was comity and restfulness
of another sort in the company of management the club bearer sorely yearned
for.
And that was the beginning of labor law, strike rules, and
negotiated settlements.
Today we know them as trial separations and divorce, but
then, that, too, is a topic for another day. Yes, so many topics for another
day. No wonder we have writers and media people teeming the planet. It makes
one’s head spin. And so, I rest. Best to avoid concentration on this matter for
another day.
Ta Ta!
September 7, 2015
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