Scheduled?

 Rescheduled celebration. It's something I have thought about over the years. Perhaps that seed of thought was planted in 1971 when I was just 17. That was when congress enacted the Uniform Monday Holiday act. It was that legislation that established the three day weekend. Basically, it combined Washington and Lincolns birthdays to create Presidents' Day and also recognize Columbus Day as an official holiday. This change was driven mostly by the tourist industry, three-day weekends are good for business. Profits trump tradition. No need to celebrate the event on the actual anniversary of that event, reschedule it. It has only increased in popularity as the years have gone by.

 Originally Veterans Day was included in this reorganized calendar. It was moved back to the actual date of the anniversary after much push back from Veterans groups. Martin Luther Kings' birthday wasn't celebrated until 1986 but was included on a Monday. No matter, just schedule a three-day federal holiday. It is worth noting that these federal holidays only apply and are enforceable for federal employees. Just another example of the government making "rules" that only apply to themselves. Federal employees do enjoy quite a range of benefits and entitlements not necessarily available to the general public. Well, it does hinge upon who our representatives are representing. In this case they are representing the tourist/vacation industry. The travel industry, in all its' facets, certainly didn't object. Fill up those gas tanks and hit the highway! 

 I just wonder if by rescheduling our celebrations if we aren't diminishing their importance as well. What I mean is this. We choose to celebrate an event that holds significance or importance to us. So much so we choose to celebrate that event every year. The intent is to highlight the day. Now, when those days are just rolled into a three-day vacation is the significance being displaced? We did celebrate Washington and Lincolns' birthdays. Now they are combined. Although not officially changed many states now call it Presidents' Day. The holiday is to celebrate Washingtons' birthday but includes all the Presidents. It is still officially Washingtons' birthday. But we couldn't just celebrate Washington and Lincoln could we? No, we needed to include all the Presidents. 

 I guess it doesn't really make much difference. Perhaps it is just my sensibilities. I do feel like the event should be celebrated on the anniversary of that event. If we choose to commemorate a person or event it should be on that date. Like a birthday is your "special" day and that is the day to celebrate that. Today is my grandsons' birthday. He is twenty-one years old today. He celebrated his birthday yesterday. It was a more convenient time. I baked him a cake which he doesn't get until today, on his birthday! Really, he saw it yesterday but I'm holding that cake hostage to ensure I will see him today, on his birthday. That is important to me. It's a sad truth that some of the other holidays I forget. Just when is Lincolns' birthday? When is George Washingtons? What is the actual date of their birth? What's Labor Day? The end of summer? Memorial Day and Veterans Day are often confused in the publics' eyes. Significance lost? Yes, I think to a degree it is.

 I guess we are just trying to create a more convenient world. A world more profitable, more predictable, planned in advance. Maybe there will come a time when we just clump all our holidays, celebrations and remembrances into a single time frame. Take a month off from work and get all that done at once. It would be more efficient. Or maybe we could just schedule all that stuff for the first week of every month. All birthdays, all holidays, are celebrated the first week of every month. Everyone gets paid for that first week of work too! That way everyone gets the same paid holidays as everyone else. Seems fair and really shouldn't your birthday be a paid holiday for you? I know mine should.