Happy Labor Day!
The day we celebrate all the contributions laborers have made to turn the United States into a global superpower.
When I think about Labor Day, I think about my grandparents and great grandparents and all the sacrifices they made so that their kids would have better lives.
I think about my grandfather, who volunteered to join the Navy at 17 after getting permission from his father.
My grandmother, who helped build the Liberty Ships at Bethlehem Steel’s shipyards in Baltimore.
My great grandmother who, after tending to her garden and livestock and sending her kids off to school, would make huge pots of soups and sandwiches to sell to the dock workers for lunch. Then, return home to make dinner for her family and prepare to do it all over again – 6 days a week.
Of course, they don’t make people like this anymore, and I think it’s sad that, over the years, we’ve lost respect for the value of hard work and sacrifice.
Between college graduates expecting to get their loans “forgiven,” which is really just a fancy way of saying “you don’t have to pay back your debts,” to just the general lack of motivation and honor amongst kids these days, it’s pretty depressing.
Although I don’t actually blame them.
I blame our society that has enabled this.
We are breeding a generation of slackers and wimps.
A generation of people who expect instant success without ever having to work for it.
A generation that’s not only afraid of hard work, but just afraid of life in general.
You know, last week I read an article about a town in Wisconsin that closed down a playground after someone spotted a mouse.
Folks, I couldn’t make this up if I tried.
Here’s the actual Facebook post from the city of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin …
This is insane.
It’s a mouse in a playground!
How do we expect this country to survive when we don’t expect our kids to pay their debts or shut down playgrounds when a mouse appears?
Honestly, I could write pages upon pages about this. But instead, I’d like to just take this time to do something we really should do every day: honor America’s workers.
The people that don’t get their debts wiped clean from a nanny government.
The people who don’t run from mice on playgrounds.
The people who take pride in hard work and honor an honest work ethic.
The people who this future generation should look up to, and not down upon.
The people for whom I am grateful.
Happy Labor Day!
