12 February 2010 Happy Birthday, Abe

12 February 2010 Happy Birthday, Abe


“When I was young…”

That could be the beginning phrase of a John Prine song about Peabody Coal Company’s rape of the Appalachian mountain geology.

That could be the beginning of an allegorical tale handed down from generation to generation, מדור לדור in an effort to preserve knowledge and tradition.

And, that could be the beginning of a lament, a tirade, or a tired complaint with elements of the second option tossed in for seasoning.

With that in mind:

When I was young, the calendar on the wall had the date in red numerals as today is the anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth and, in my youth, a federal holiday. Later in the month, on the 22nd , red numerals denoted another federal holiday honoring George Washington’s birthday. Today, in the year 2010, is not a holiday. Nor, if you flip ahead on the calendar, is the 22nd. Both dates lost their holiday status during the Nixon years when Congress decided that three day weekends were of greater importance than commemorating events on the dates when they actually took place. Congress, almost always in holiday holding pattern unless actually on holiday, downgraded both dates and created a new holiday, President’s Day, so that those of us with jobs might possibly have a three day weekend in February.

There was, and is, the question of who actually gets the holiday off. Federal employees do- read that as Congress and most of the government. Postal Service employees, bank employees, financial house employees, and some union workers get the holiday. Some schools close, some universities close; others don’t.

Who doesn’t get the holiday might be a better question. Retail workers, transportation workers, chefs, restaurant and fasts-food workers, and of course, healthcare workers. Some healthcare professionals get the holiday, others don’t. In the 30+ years I spent in clinical lab, I never received time off for Presidents’ Day. In most instances I was not even aware that the holiday had rolled around again. Now that I’m retired and don’t have to keep up with work schedules, all the holidays sort of sneak up on me. Fortunately, Gloria’s birthday, which I have managed to remember every year, warns me about Valentine’s Day coming the very next day. Even more fortunately, Gloria understands shipping delays – fortunate for me this year.

So “when I was young,” the month of February had a much different configuration. We got two days off school if the holidays happened to fall on weekdays. Like the “Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag”, which was initially written and accepted by Congress without concern for any references to religion, those days off are things of the past. Now we honor all Presidents, whether or not they truly deserve to be honored, on a single day in February chosen not for its historical significance but for its impact upon the work schedule of millions of Americans.

I don’t particularly mind three day weekends but I do regret glossing over our grasp of American history in an ever more desultory manner that leaves most American students unable to relate the actual facts leading up to the founding of the nation. Texas students will graduate high school thinking that the only reason we broke with England was over the practice of religion. (Of course, they may also think that Jesus Christ spoke English instead of Spanish and that he personally decides who wins football games between Texas high schools). If one considers other states high school graduates it is possible to find equally poor student preparation and awareness of what causes a foot ball team to win a game. Kansas schools ignore science. I’ve seen many rural Missouri school events that were in direct violation of the 1st Amendment at every public event. And the list goes on.

Washington and Lincoln were two of our most important and effective Presidents. I believe we should return the original celebrations of their terms of office to the anniversaries of their birthday. We’re rich enough to afford two holidays in February. That’s all the more true when we look at the unemployment rate and at the number of people who don’t get any holidays because their employers don’t provide benefits.

The temperature today has exceeded the freezing point by 0.14 °F. It is now snowing lightly as if to prove that global warming exists with many facets. There’s that nasty science factual material intrusion again.

Shabbat Shalom!