Which is a rant that I've gone on about a few times.
I don't know what asshole was responsible for the Uniform Monday Holiday Act of 1968. I don't know what jerkwad first thought it would be a good idea to take holidays that commemorated certain things and turn them into three-day weekends. Oh, it was probably popular with the merchants and the travel industry. When Memorial Day or Washington's birthday was in the middle of the week, nobody traveled for it. A sale was a little harder to arrange, for it would be a one-day event and, back then, most reputable stores closed for Memorial Day, anyway.
Because Memorial Day was about honoring dead soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen and the veterans who had passed on. It wasn't about going to the lake or buying cheap crap at a sale.
We might as well be honest and change the name of this holiday to "Hit the Road and Buy Shit Holiday #3".
Update: You should read this and this and these two articles.
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4 comments:
Can't disagree Lady. Thanks for pointing that out, and it IS a good point!
Don't forget it's also become National BBQ day as well.
In retrospect tho, perhaps a feast to celebrate the Dead is not so bad?
It was the 3 day holiday bill that killed it off. Wasn't that Raygun that signed that? Or was that earlier?
It was touted as a 'victory' for Labor which is kind of true also, it gave your average Union stiff another '3 day vacation' which as a former working stiff was always appreciated. It didn't make much sense when you had to pack for the 'family' and then just get a night off (sat.) With a 3 day we could actually get away for 2 whole nights! Almost a Vacation when you has small kids. Or wanted to hike said kids into somewhere worth seeing as we often did.
I Agree that making it a 3 day disgraced the actual day and what it represented, which is Very sad and a lead in to all kinds of other crap that has befallen us as a country.
My Dad taught me to respect Vets, Alive and Dead, on a daily basis, so it's true I didn't lose on a "day of remembrance".
I can see and agree with your problem here, but I have to say a thing for 'the other side' as well.
I will not feel guilty for the times we went camping at Mt Lassen or Shasta instead of cruising the local display of the Nam Wall(and said "hi" to the names I know) at the cemetery. We did that as a family some years too.
It made more sense when everything was closed as well. I remember those days too.
w3ski
LBJ signed the 3-day holiday bill.
Agree,
http://idlehandsdept.blogspot.com/2012/05/memorial-day-div.html
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