The two
days every American should have off-The 4th of July.
This
blogpost (as well as my Thanksgiving post) was inspired by my 4th of
July experience from about a year ago.
Last year I agreed to house/pet sit for my brother-in-law while he and
family went out to California to visit my niece for the July 4th
holiday However, after I made the
commitment to make sure my brother-in-law’s animal menagerie would be well fed
and happy that 4th of July my bosses at my day job also asked if I
could work on the 4th of July, but conveniently from home. Now, my
bosses didn’t specify which home I could work from. So,
thanks to the fact my brother-in-law was willing to give me access to his wi-fi I could work
from his home instead of mine.
Let me
tell you a little about the job I do. I
work in a call center for a furniture company.
Part of the reason why I took the position in the call center was because
I knew I would have better hours and I would be off on Sundays and major holidays.
In my previous position for the same
company, as a cashier at one of those company operated stores, I was expected
to work on Sundays and major holidays.
Why was I expected to work on Sundays and major holidays? Because there are always some major sales going
on then. Why? Because many people are off on Sundays and holidays,
especially this year when I’m sure a lot of people are turning the 4th
of July into a 4-day weekend. You could
say it’s the American way to go shopping on those holidays because one of the
things that brings a lot of Americans together is the rampant consumerism that
unites all Americans. So, just because
I could have the 4th of July holiday off doesn’t mean the
salespersons and store cashiers in charge of selling the furniture on the 4th
of July holiday has that day off.
Which means that while many families (including
probably the sales staff/store cashier’s families) are enjoying hot dogs and
hamburgers at a backyard cookout, the furniture salespersons trying to convince
someone how awesome this 5-piece sectional would look in their living room to
sit and watch the fireworks on TV.
And if a customer says “Yes, but I really want it tomorrow”, and July 5th
is blocked out on the routing calendar because the warehouse and delivery
support staff make sure all the trucks were ready to go on July 3rd for
deliveries on July 5th so they could have the day off, that’s where I
come in to either tell a salesperson yes or no. Also, in this internet age customers may be
attempting to grill hot dogs and hamburgers at home and may want to forego the
drive out to the store but still ask someone online “Hey, how big is that 5 pc
sectional?” That’s where I also come in
to respond to their emails because the internet doesn’t take a day off. I was
paid bonus money, and I was glad for it.
Still,
where in the Declaration of Independence did it say we had a right to pursue
bargains on davenports and chaise lounges?
OK I know those sales obviously make the sales staff/my company happy
but I’m sure there is also a portion of the staff who are miserable on that day
and would rather eat a hot dog with their family and set off fireworks than
wait around in hot uncomfortable suits hoping to help someone else ‘s idea of
happiness of getting a bargain on a davenport. I’m pretty sure when our money began to
sport the phrase “In God we trust” many Americans view Washington, (or Lincoln,
Hamilton, Jackson, Grant or especially the Benjamins) as their god as opposed
to the almighty creator of the universe whose providence provided the resources
to make this country amazing for all and the self-evident universal truths
cited in the preamble of that Independence Day declaration.
Now, I’m a
Catholic and while we may not be able to quote chapter and verse of the Bible
like our Protestant brethren, I do know Jesus said “Man does not live by bread
alone but by every word that comes from the mouth of God”[i] which means that deep down a discount on a 5-piece
sectional isn’t going to satisfy the soul deep down within. Even Atheists are coming together in
fellowship and philosophizing to develop their soul[ii] . So, maybe like Thanksgiving, every American
should be off the 4th of July, and everything shut down to offer a
refreshment to their souls and appreciate all of the things that make America
great right here and now. Founding
Father John Addams said-
““The (Fourth) Day of July 1776, will be
the most memorable Epocha, in the History of America, I am apt to believe that
it will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary
Festival…It ought to be solemnized with Pomp and Parade, with Shews, Games,
Sports, Guns, Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent
to the other from this Time forward forever more.”[iii]
In fact, I
would say we need to come together as a nation now more than ever to celebrate
this day, the date of our great country’s birth. I know may worry we are heading for a second
civil war because our country seems so divided along [iv] tribal lines with us clinging to that which
makes us different verses that which makes us the same. You could say that this is the way we have
always been as Americans. Jamestown was
founded in 1607 by the English to get their hands on some of the gold the
Spanish has been plundering from the Americas since 1492. Meanwhile, the protestant Puritan pilgrims founded
the Plymouth colony in 1620 because they felt the Anglican church, whom many in
England were pressured to follow, was still too Catholic for their tastes. I’m
pretty sure that John Hancock,[v] a successful New England
business export/import owner, probably was more concern with the no taxation
part of the US Revolution’s rallying cry than the fact that the colonies should
have representatives in Brtitan’s parliament like the rest of the founding
fathers wanted. The famous author of
the Declaration of Independence, Thomas Jefferson, owned slaves and yet in the
rough draft bemoaned King George III’s involvement in the slave trade.[vi] John
Adams, founding father whose head would have hung separately if he didn’t hang
together with the 56 or so men who signed the declaration, [vii] defended the British soldiers
who fired on the crowds at the Boston Massacre where a black man, Crispus Attucks[viii] was the 1st
to die for the revolution that many more African Americans had to wait for the
13th amendment in 1865 and then then the Civil Rights act of 1964 to
enjoy the same freedom Crispus Attucks died for.
So, while
we in the US had our differences then, there were plenty of things to unite us
during that Revolutionary war. Paul Revere’s
etching of the Boston Massacre appeared in newspapers as far south as Savanah
GA, and no one in the US liked a bully. [ix] This is part of the reason why the 1st
Continental Congress in 1774 declared an attack on one of the 13 colonies was
an attack on all of them. It was only by being united as 13 different
states, and quite frankly a hefty amount of divine providence and grace, that
allowed the US to defeat the global superpower of the 18th century. I know in recent years that many people wish to
bash our Founding Fathers for their foibles and peccadillos. However, those founding fathers knew a few
things: 1st, they certainly weren’t perfect. Ken Burns PBS documentary on Ben Franklin
talked about how Franklin created a weekly chart where he tracked how often
during the week he failed to practice the 7 virtues. 2nd, they knew that they didn’t
want to have any type of king or monarchy with absolute authority. This is why in 1789 they got together to
write the US Constitution (and then in 1791 quickly amended it with the Bill of
Rights) with it’s checks and balances on the other branches of government so
that-
“We the
People, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure
domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general
Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do
ordain this Constitution for United States of America.”
Which
brings me to point the 3rd point, they knew sooner or later if we
agree to work out our differences and all strive to make America greater so
that in the words of Abraham Lincoln at Gettysburg
“…that
government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not perish
from this earth.”
I know
both Democrats and Republicans want to make America great. They just have different ways of bringing about
America’s greatness. We can petition our
government to make changes and protest rules and decisions we disagree with. Try asking that of anyone in Russian who objects
to the war in Ukraine along with the Ukrainians[x]. The reason why so many people joke about how
a priest, a rabbi, and Buddhist monk can walk into a bar is because we allow
all religions in this country and no doubt many a priest, rabbi, and Buddhist
monk are walking into bars together lately to lament how their congregations
are shrinking. [xi] I know everyone is free
to speak their minds even when people very much mind if someone’s opinion isn’t
congruent with their own. I know that
this country is so great that 44.8 million immigrants recently came to this
country [xii] from other countries to fulfill the American
dream even though about 39% of US people doubt those dreams can come true.[xiii] We were the first country to put into
practice the enlightenment philosophies of John Locke [xiv] that
I’m sure rankled the rank-and-file monarchies of Europe who viewed their
subjects more like their personal playthings than human beings equal to each
other. We in America are always trying
to strive to make this country better and we have become better and as I look
over the US 248 years of history, I can see we have always strived to bring
justice for all, even if its justice delayed.
We still need to hang together now more than ever because as the
expression goes: United we stand/Divided we fall.
So, perhaps,
rather than everyone gathering around their own personal grills, we need to
gather as a community to celebrate the grandness of this country. In
fact, I would recommend turning the 4th of July into a great
communal potluck supper on a sliding scale of grandness. For example, a small town or a city block
might be able to host a 4th of July block party maybe around the
local swimming pool (Meaning lifeguards may need to work July 4th) where neighbors get to know one another and
share the formerly ethic foods of their old country that have become part of
the modern American diets. Heck, why not
have a contest for the funkiest fusion cuisine mashup like Korean BBQ tacos, or
fried okra & collard greens mostaccioli or jalapeño kielbasa sushi. Why not include some fun games too like a
random person three-legged race where strangers are partnered up. Maybe the local KKK grand wizard will put
away his hatred for the local Nation of Islam imam as they agreed to partner up
to beat the lesbian feminist/homophobic misogynist, Hasidic Jew/Neo Nazi, boomer/zoomer,
vegan/carnivore, hippie/yuppie (if either still exist nowadays), and the local
Democrat/Republican congressional candidates’ teams. Everyone
should enjoy the freedoms that the Revolutionaries fought to secure for us
because we in America should celebrate how we 1st recognized these
are the freedoms the world over should have.
I know a lot of other
major towns do organize major festivals which often included some carnival
rides and games, which I guess means carnies have to work. This also means food stalls should also be
around perhaps staffed by local restauranters and their employees to feed
everyone who is out there with maybe each stand at least offering some small
bite for free for the crowds to enjoy.
I know the All-Star baseball game is usually played around July 4th,
why not move it to July 4th itself so every American can watch the
National pastime? Which means that TV
broadcasters, baseball players, and whomever will be selling the 30K people
lucky to see the game in person their cracker-jack boxes and beer will probably
be working as well. As part of these
festivities maybe the community can offer variety shows with people showing off
their cultural heritage dance moves and music which means naturally musicians
and dancers are now working along with a stage lighting crew and sound
engineers. This also means bus drivers, subway
engineers, maybe taxi drivers too would need to work to make sure those without
cars or would rather not drive to downtown Chicago with its’ heavy traffic and
crowded streets can get to the communal destination. Heck, maybe large communal
places like zoos, museums, amusement parks might also stay open with some kind
of 4th of July celebration. And since there needs to be someone to
organize these parades, games, bonfires, illuminations etc. that’s where local
government officials come in to organize those hometown parades where the
hometown heroes are celebrated along with those in charge of blowing up the fireworks
in the evening and a DJ to play patriotic music and maybe public works and assorted
other trash collectors work to clean up the trash the massive crowds leave
behind.
The list I
listed for those who need to work on the 4th of July are also the
same as those who have to work on Thanksgiving: Police officers, firefighters,
doctors, nurses, assorted hospital workers, hotel workers, tow-truck drivers,
but if you encounter one at or during the festival, be sure to thank them for
helping to keep this country growing.
And, maybe
even those who must work towards
the end of the night take a few minutes after dusk watch the fireworks as they
explode with the joy every American should feel in their hearts this 4th
of July.
Happy 4th of July everyone.
[i]
Mathew 4:4
