Call it one of my biggest pet peeves – the people
who think of the holiday we celebrate Wednesday as the “Fourth of July,” and
who think the term “Independence Day” is nothing more than that ridiculous film
from some two-plus decades ago.
For the holiday that celebrates the events of
some 242 years ago on this date is supposed to celebrate the events upon which
the one-time English colonies of North America declared themselves an independent
nation.
OF COURSE, I’M sure many people think that’s “boring!”
and nothing more than ancient history. They prefer to think of this as the day
we’ll dig out the barbecue grills, roast a few hot dogs and watch an explosive
spectacle in the skies as we go out to our local park in the evening for a
fireworks display.
That, and we find a way to turn this into an
extended weekend – taking time off from work to make for an unofficial
vacation.
If anything, the Independence Day holiday of
2018 will be unique because the actual “day off” comes on a Wednesday. We can
actually pick if we want it to be the end of an extended weekend, or the
beginning.
Or, for some incredibly lazy types, it will be
a double weekend. A whole slew of time off – because why try to work when so
many of your colleagues have disappeared.
I DOUBT MANY people will be giving history much
thought. Which really is a shame.
Because at a time when our nation and our
society is split so seriously, what I think we most are in need of is a history
lesson. If anything, I think our “commander in chief” could most use such a
lesson – since his sense of ego is such that I think at times he truly has no
comprehension of what his campaign slogan truly means. Either that, or his
sense of history comes entirely from those “Schoolhouse Rock” cartoons of the
1970s. I’ll be honest; I don’t know exactly how I’m
spending the day on Wednesday. A part of me thinks it would be useful to spend
the day in historic meditation. Pondering the many sacrifices that generations
past have made to create a nation and a society that so many from around the
globe are eager to be a part of, while trying to calm the family dogs down as
they endure an evening of explosives.
Instead, it could turn out to be little more
than an over-glorified weenie roast, with me getting all outraged over my other
pet peeve – people who persist in slathering their hot dogs in ketchup. Now
that’s a truly un-American concept!
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