Labor Day, a Holiday That Even Hallmark Forgot

A Four Minute Read

What’s not to love about the large clank of steel-on-steel, rattling the house two hours before even the sun gets up? It’s trash day! I actually don’t mind this morning because, five am was about the time my conscious mind overpowered my subconscious one - with thoughts of dark roast java and this blog post.

I know I may be in a minority here, but I have marveled at the complex machinery and technology riding within the typical 30,000 pound trash truck. I’ve seen them excitedly maul large dumpsters full of lumber, concrete and metal with their mouths open for more - only a minute later. And all without the slightest hint of a burp.

Teams of engineers designed each facet of that compressing mechanism and the truck frame on which it sets, and the beast of an engine that hauls the 50,000 pounds of it all to the next stop .

Even though it might seem boring after the titillating reference to trash truck mechanics, let’s move on to the driver - an equally unappreciated gear of a high functioning society.

Photography by Refhad, used with permission

Just Two Men and One Story

Back in 2001, I took a two year break from medicine to get outside literally and figuratively - to do home repairs and construction. I had dabbled in it before and through college. Though I would rent an occasional dumpster for demolition, most smaller jobs I’d get by just putting lumber scraps and debris out at our curb. One day I remember putting out twenty construction bags full of old shingles, feeling relatively guilt-free because it was my own house that I reroofed.

The following summer, our monthly garbage collection fee went up a whoppin’ 10%, so my wife and I just cancelled and were going to switch to a cheaper company. Not long after cancelling, Sean, the trash truck driver who I’d spoken to maybe a dozen times, drove up in his pick-up and he was obviously pissed. But worse than that, he was hurt. In retrospect, I think he considered me more than a customer.

As he became a full-fledged human being right there in front of me, I wondered how many others I’d missed. Though he had never mentioned or complained about all the extra work and expense of my extra crap, (tipping fees of $70 per ton) he had noticed.

I stood there taking in the disappointment of one very decent man and thought back to the few times we’d talked about his wife’s serious health problems. I remembered him confiding in me as he discussed one of his son’s recent challenges. And I’m sure I had burdened him with a number of challenges we’d faced within the old farmhouse walls right behind us.

I was “merely” way too busy and self-absorbed with my own problems to figure-in the unintended cost of us saving $100 a year.

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Labor Day September 5th, 1882

Though there are disputes regarding the specifics, two different men were major contributors to the concept of commemorating US laborers. Peter J. McGuire, general secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, was one of them. He proposed setting aside a day as a "general holiday for the laboring classes" to honor those "who from rude nature have delved and carved all the grandeur we behold." (Dept of Labor.gov)

The second, a major advocate of organized labor from New Jersey, was a machinist named Mathew Maguire. While serving as the secretary of the Central Labor Union in New York, he also proposed a special holiday to lift up common laborers. Though there’s apparently no record of if or how these two men collaborated, the first ever- Labor Day Parade is a well-documented historical fact and both men attended. It was held in New York City on May 5th, 1882.

As more and more states came on board to encourage the recognition of their common laborers, President Grover Cleveland joined the chorus, and in 1894 passed a law making the first Monday of each September a national holiday. And the rest, for better or worse, is history.

"All that serves Labor serves the nation. All that harms Labor is treason to America. No line can be drawn between these two. If any man tells you he loves America and hates Labor, he is a liar. If any man tells you he trusts America and fears Labor, he is a fool. There is no America without Labor and to fleece one is to rob the other." Anonymous

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We are all richer for the labor of others

From the legislators and environmentalists who work tirelessly to protect our air, drinking water and planet, to the migrant workers who pick our produce in hundred degree heat, we are all better off for their efforts.

To the kind, very young man at the local grocery store, who not only carded my bride of four plus decades yesterday, but also asked her if she had any exciting plans for her upcoming birthday, we are richer for your labors.

For those who strive to protect the rights, freedoms, and safety of all beings, regardless of their likeability, humanity is grateful for your efforts.

Happy Labor Day to All !