Family looks to labor on Labor Day

Labor Day. Only in America do we turn a holiday into work.

I like my holidays to be relaxing affairs. Of course, most of them aren't. But I still see it as a worthwhile goal of any holiday.

But my wife doesn't see it that way -- certainly not Labor Day.

She informed me the other day that we would be spending our Labor Day actually laboring on the house. She wants to clean out the house.

I don't need such literal thought.

My idea of laboring on Labor Day is to sit back and watch a movie or maybe take in a ball game. Cleaning out the house doesn't seem the least bit celebratory to me.

I can't imagine that the labor union leaders in New York had that in mind when they held a Labor Day parade in September 1882 to honor working people. I'm sure they just saw it as a good excuse to party.

In 1887, Oregon became the first state to make Labor Day a legal holiday. In 1894, President Grover Cleveland signed a bill making Labor Day a national holiday.

From the outset, politicians have used the occasion to make political speeches. None of them wants to clean out the closets, much less city hall.

These days, Labor Day is a chance for end-of-summer furniture sales and backyard barbecues.

A lot of retail stores are open on Labor Day. That's no way to run a holiday. Certainly, it's no holiday for all those Americans who have to go to work that day.

Now, thanks to Joni, I'm going to be sweating through the holiday.

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for cleaning up; I just hate to do it on a holiday.

Besides, our kids won't be thrilled about this labor thing. They'd rather watch "Trading Spaces" all day than tackle cleaning up their bedrooms.

They'll need more than a weekend to get their rooms in shape.

And something tells me that Joni's home cleanup weekend won't adhere to any labor union policies. In other words, there won't be a lot of rest breaks.

At some point, I'll need a break if only to pay homage to all those hard-working Americans everywhere.

And I'll repeatedly offer to clean out the barbecue grill rather than tackle another closet.

Hanging out in the garage can be downright fun compared to organizing closets.

Our dog, Cassie, will want to help by grabbing a sock or two and chewing it to death. Otherwise, she's not big on this labor thing.

The Labor Day holiday has caught on in other countries, although I'm not sure they take the labor part so seriously. In Australia, Labor Day is called Eight Hour Day and commemorates the successful struggle for a shorter working day.

That's not the case in the United States where working overtime is a common occurrence. The 40-hour week has become little more than a slogan for many Americans.

And when you do steal some free time, there are always those family chores to keep you up late at night.

I'll need a pre-holiday nap just to get geared up for laboring on Labor Day.

Without a doctor's excuse that cleaning up is hazardous to my health, I'll have to plan long walks with the dog.

Still, I doubt I can beg out of it.

Mark Bliss is a staff writer for the Southeast Missourian.