Labor Day Consists Of One Day Of Work

Eventually most American holidays lose sight of their original intention. Labor Day was created to honor the working man but has been transformed into summer's last hurrah. Writing a poem to point this out is not much of a revelation.

Is it so bad that Labor Day is about "blowout sales" and "up to ten thousand barbeques per square foot"? It shows just how far the working stiff has come if he's taking a day off from the job to buy a flat-screen TV and throw a burger on the grill.

The line "it's abundantly clear that things have gone in the wrong direction: 'Hail to the Chief'" wants to hang some sort of blame on the President but nothing else in the poem makes it at all clear how President Bush has perverted or diminished Labor Day. Like a lot of left wing political expression, it's assumed that everything that goes wrong in the world - paper jams, burnt casseroles, crying babies - can be traced back to the President.

HELP! Change Television

Political and social causes often create flyers that have more emotional charge than good sense, like this mini-poster I found taped to a lightpost in my neighborhood.

The graffito makes a good point - "Throw out your TV. Interact with humans not a box. Get out. Get life." With everything there is to see and do in NYC, why be concerned about what's on TV, and a ratings system that is becoming less and less relevant every day?