Today is Columbus Day here in the United States. Today is the day that we honor Christopher Columbus’s discovery of the Americas. At least, I think that’s what today is all about.
Truth be known, today is one of those weird holidays. Official businesses like the post office, banks, government offices, etc. are closed for the day. Schools are closed. However, many businesses are open and conducting business as usual. Which is sometimes difficult because of the “pick and choose” nature of this holiday. Banks are closed, but the stock market is open. The restaurant down the street from the office is closed, because the state office building is closed, but the rest of the businesses are open and there’s no place for the workers to eat. (Thank goodness for a homemade turkey sandwich!)
What’s kind of odd is that Columbus Day is actually October 12, but today is only October 10. So it’s actually another “relocated” holiday. I think that’s rude. How would you like to be George Washington and have your birthday relocated to February 18 (from February 22) because you were careless enough to not but up properly against a weekend. Same with Memorial Day. And how come Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday? Who came up with that rule? I heard a woman talking in the supermarket commenting that Halloween should be moved to May so that the kids don’t have to go out in the cold in their costumes. I’m sure the spirits would love that.
All I know is that I’m working today while bankers are fanning themselves with their money. Tomorrow we’ll have twice as much junk mail to throw away because our mailbox will be empty tonight. What am I going to do? I’m kiss the ground out front, thank Christopher Columbus for his discovery and then move along.
As a state worker, I’m enjoying one of the benefits of the job – having just about every holiday off.
Of course, I don’t get Thanksgiving Friday off, but I get Bunker Hill Day off – argh!
I’m in the office today, but because the building next door is the municipal building, it’s vacant and so are all the spots on the sidewalk where vendors usually set up tables in front of the building. I figure on the days that the shay-butter vendor and the guy who scrubs a dirty rug with some miracle shampoo and the coffee cart man don’t come to work, I shouldn’t have to either. But here I sit, wondering where I’ll go for coffee later.