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captainsblogI've never quite understood what to make of this national holiday, either in terms of its significance or its observance.
From the wee hours on this morning, my Facebook Wall was full of thanks to the troops- for all they do to keep us safe, and free, and brave. (Sorry, but I can't help but remember the Firesign Theatre riff on that: Ask the postman, ask the mailman, ask the milkman, white with foammmmm!) Only one problem: that's the premise of November's Veterans Day- which, because it is still observed on its actual whatever-day-of-the-week-it-is and, face it, is now firmly in the middle of Retail Christmas, is a secondary holiday gotten off only by bankers and civil servants, and is roundly, if unfairly, ignored by most of the country.
No, Memorial Day is rooted firmly in the ground of troops who fought and died- and, since it was originally Civil War dead being remembered, today's national holiday honors losers as much as winners. Its Congressionally recognized home is 100 miles east of here, in Waterloo, New York, which to this day reserves the sort-of original date of May 30th for its formal observances, and they begin in a series of cemeteries. We're remembering specific Whos, who died for their side, not some vague patriotic concept of how important military service is.
And, of course, I'm not sure many people today are even thinking it's about that.
----
It wasn't always this way. The federal holiday shifted to the Monday-holiday schedule, along with a bunch of others throughout the year, sometime in the Nixon Administration, and I've never especially liked them. In my fast-approaching 30 years in the workplace, they've always meant an awkward "day" off followed by four days of hectic catch-up. Why didn't they move the holidays to the corresponding Fridays? I'd much rather have an extra day off at the end of a workweek, since the ensuing Mondays are always tough adjustments, anyway.
For those first Nixon years through the first Memorial Day under Carter, my Memorial Day was spent stuck in a tin can with spats- doing the hometown parade as part of my junior or senior high's marching band. Those days, like today here, were invariably hot, humid and painfully long in both time and distance, and the route was lined mostly with (a) our own parents and (b) veterans who were so old they wouldn't have known if we were playing Sousa, Sex Pistols or nothing at all. At least back then, Memorial Day also marked the opening of the town pool, so it took major faculty effort to keep us from jumping into the deep end with uniforms and instruments still attached. Nowadays, budget cuts mean that our local town pool is closed until the last week of June, no matter how hot the hell gets out there.
In my reed-less decades since then (it was 35 Memorial Days ago today that I hung up my marching outfit), the holiday has evolved more into That Thing it's become as the unofficial start of summer, much as Labor Day marks its end in this country. Increasingly, people in retail do not get off for the whole day, or even a part of it, and therefore Eleanor's been working today, as she did this year, for most of the time we've lived here. (She did get sprung just now, about an hour early.) We have no immediate or extended fam within 70 miles, and the only relative within even that range works for a hospital and is even more likely than she to be working on holidays, so it's never become the bigass family picnic day it is for many. Two major sports are in playoff mode, but both took the entire day off today (one NBA series starts tonight); and while baseball used to make Memorial Day doubleheaders a tradition, those died out in the 80s and now we're lucky they play any games at all on the last Monday in May (or, in the case of the Mets today, not so lucky:P).
So now that beloved and child are both home, it's gonna be mostly hey, hey, hey, just an ordinary night: dogs on the grill, zucchini and sweet peppers on the side, and three hopefully kick-ass days to end the month instead of the four that would've included today.
From the wee hours on this morning, my Facebook Wall was full of thanks to the troops- for all they do to keep us safe, and free, and brave. (Sorry, but I can't help but remember the Firesign Theatre riff on that: Ask the postman, ask the mailman, ask the milkman, white with foammmmm!) Only one problem: that's the premise of November's Veterans Day- which, because it is still observed on its actual whatever-day-of-the-week-it-is and, face it, is now firmly in the middle of Retail Christmas, is a secondary holiday gotten off only by bankers and civil servants, and is roundly, if unfairly, ignored by most of the country.
No, Memorial Day is rooted firmly in the ground of troops who fought and died- and, since it was originally Civil War dead being remembered, today's national holiday honors losers as much as winners. Its Congressionally recognized home is 100 miles east of here, in Waterloo, New York, which to this day reserves the sort-of original date of May 30th for its formal observances, and they begin in a series of cemeteries. We're remembering specific Whos, who died for their side, not some vague patriotic concept of how important military service is.
And, of course, I'm not sure many people today are even thinking it's about that.
----
It wasn't always this way. The federal holiday shifted to the Monday-holiday schedule, along with a bunch of others throughout the year, sometime in the Nixon Administration, and I've never especially liked them. In my fast-approaching 30 years in the workplace, they've always meant an awkward "day" off followed by four days of hectic catch-up. Why didn't they move the holidays to the corresponding Fridays? I'd much rather have an extra day off at the end of a workweek, since the ensuing Mondays are always tough adjustments, anyway.
For those first Nixon years through the first Memorial Day under Carter, my Memorial Day was spent stuck in a tin can with spats- doing the hometown parade as part of my junior or senior high's marching band. Those days, like today here, were invariably hot, humid and painfully long in both time and distance, and the route was lined mostly with (a) our own parents and (b) veterans who were so old they wouldn't have known if we were playing Sousa, Sex Pistols or nothing at all. At least back then, Memorial Day also marked the opening of the town pool, so it took major faculty effort to keep us from jumping into the deep end with uniforms and instruments still attached. Nowadays, budget cuts mean that our local town pool is closed until the last week of June, no matter how hot the hell gets out there.
In my reed-less decades since then (it was 35 Memorial Days ago today that I hung up my marching outfit), the holiday has evolved more into That Thing it's become as the unofficial start of summer, much as Labor Day marks its end in this country. Increasingly, people in retail do not get off for the whole day, or even a part of it, and therefore Eleanor's been working today, as she did this year, for most of the time we've lived here. (She did get sprung just now, about an hour early.) We have no immediate or extended fam within 70 miles, and the only relative within even that range works for a hospital and is even more likely than she to be working on holidays, so it's never become the bigass family picnic day it is for many. Two major sports are in playoff mode, but both took the entire day off today (one NBA series starts tonight); and while baseball used to make Memorial Day doubleheaders a tradition, those died out in the 80s and now we're lucky they play any games at all on the last Monday in May (or, in the case of the Mets today, not so lucky:P).
So now that beloved and child are both home, it's gonna be mostly hey, hey, hey, just an ordinary night: dogs on the grill, zucchini and sweet peppers on the side, and three hopefully kick-ass days to end the month instead of the four that would've included today.
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no subject
Date: 2012-05-28 11:26 pm (UTC)That whole skit is wonderful. "Who am us anyway?"
(chorus) "We were small angry men mit hairy faces und burning feet. We were running away from povertee, intolerance, the law, and the army."
"And we took to them, and they took to us. And what do you think they took?"
(chorus, chanting) "Oil from Canada, gold from Mexico, geese from the neighbor's back yard (boom-boom).
Corn from the Indians, tobacco from the Indians, Dakota from the Indians, New Jersey from the Indians, New England from the Indians...."
Enjoy your hot dogs!
no subject
Date: 2012-05-29 06:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2012-05-29 10:35 am (UTC)It could just be that Remembrance Day is what I'm used to. Of course, as an immigrant...I don't know of anybody connected to me to think about...there isn't the personal connection to this country's history. And so it's harder to connect to the real reason for today. At least, as a Canadian kid, I could remember my grandfather who'd served, honor men from church who had served, and think of family history of those who had died. There were more ways to connect.
Of course, my father-in-law's bristling at (and ranting about) those who (he thinks) are confusing Memorial Day with Veterans Day may also have a part in turning me off.
no subject
Date: 2012-05-29 12:06 pm (UTC)