Why is Charlie Working on Labor Day?
See today’s Nest Heads (Sept. 3, 2007) What about you? And, you, Yu?
new dean
all blackboards
turn white
windowless classroom
the blank look
same as last term
………. by Yu Chang – Upstate Dim Sum ..
It’s definitely unpatriotic to do unnecessary work on Labor Day, so this is a quickie from the f/k/a Gang. The editorial staff at the New York Times has captured the essence of Labor Day well this morning, in “September Pause” (Sept. 3, 2007). If it’s not too much work, I’d suggest your reading the entire piece (only 5 paragaphs, with an allusion to elisions). It reminds us:
“Labor Day brings no urge for redemption or spiritual re-examination. It demands no particular patriotism. If you get choked up on Labor Day, you’ve probably just been eating too fast. There’s a breeziness to the day, a whatever quality, that keeps you from trying to make the day carry too much weight. The kids may have started school, and when did work really ever wait for anyone?”
If you insist on something that is (ostensibly) a bit weightier, there is a thought-prokoking op/ed piece from former Presidential speech writer Mark Lange, “Immigrant’s Labors Lost” (New York Times, Sept.3, 2007), who insists we’re doing all the right things — if we want to create a permanent underclass of 12 million people or more, and that
. . . “We do all of this — and let it cost us more as a country — because it is a little cheaper for us as individuals and employers. And whether we knew it or not, we are deliberately fencing in our own economy.
“It is in our self-interest to support labor mobility, development and advancement. Growth in productivity, fundamentally, is how we raise everyone’s standard of living. It starts with the first rung.” . . .
“The guy with the leaf-blower not only can learn English, he — like the unemployed steelworker — should have a chance to learn auto repair or programming. He’ll start with the jobs “ordinary Americans” won’t do. But we impair our economic future if we leave him there, imagining that’s all he or his children will ever do.”
lift bridge
the broken flow
of tourists
screen door between angry words
high noon
the boys refill
their water pistols
…………………………………………………………………. by Tom Painting
“screen door” Frogpond XXI:1 A New Resonance 2: Emerging Voices
“lift bridge”: Frogpond XXI:3; A New Resonance 2: Emerging Voices
“high noon” – Snapshot Press, 2005 Haiku Calendar (July selection)
waking early
on Labor Day –
birdsong and breezesLabor Day
the parade ends
at the shopping mall…………………………………………………. by dagosan
p.s. Veteran weblogger George Lenard of George’s Employment Blawg clearly never got the memo about taking Labor Day off. Instead, he’s worked overtime (surely earning time-and-a-half, maybe even double-time), producing the mammoth Blawg Review #124 – Labor Day Special Historical Edition, with the theme of American Labor History. You’ll find an entire composition book’s worth of links that demonstrate “blogging lawyers’ tremendous intelligence, creativity, variety, and sheer investment of time.” Special thanks to George for including our humble weblog on a float for the “Grand old men of blawging spotted marching along in the parade.” George obviously know how to orchestrate a celebration; maybe we can get him to organize next year’s Love Lawyers Day Parade.