Comments on: Missing the Point

By: Appleblossom

Appleblossom — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 18:48:25 +0000

You obviously made no effort to learn the history of the day and why it is, once again, NOT ABOUT YOU.

So stop demanding we make it about you.

By: Georgia

Georgia — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 14:21:48 +0000

Christopher, I actually agree with you that the middle manager is a worker, dependent on the direction and rule of the owners. They are similar to the foreman, the lead worker, etc. In many ways their labor is also difficult, disliked in many cases by those below and those above. It is a status that can make or break the character of those who hold it. To me personally, Labor Day can honor all those whose paycheck is signed by someone else, just as Veteran’s Day is larger than just the now extinct survivors of WWI.

By: Christopher Francis

Christopher Francis — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 08:15:19 +0000

My Dearest Appleblossom,

I do not think of myself as “entitled.” I consider myself blessed.

For the record, I am not some cretin barking my will to peons. I do not make them toil for my personal pleasure. I do not demean them or force them to do demeaning work. I know I can only speak for myself.

And by no means am I demanding it be about me. I am simply posing questions for people to consider when they think about labor and Labor Day, something I thought I could do with a reasonable expectation of being treated respectfully and not automatically lumped in with the so-called “horrible bosses.”

But then again, this is the Internet.

Your Humble Servant,
Christopher

By: Appleblossom

Appleblossom — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 23:16:14 +0000

Christopher,

Go look up the history of Labor Day. And then look up the Pullman Strike.

If you are management, that day was not about you. It is not about the owners (small business or otherwise.)

It is about the workers. The laborers. The ones who were slaughtered for demanding decent pay and treatment. The ones who were locked in factories that, when those factories caught fire, died because of those locked doors. (And I am thinking of the Hamlet food processing plant fire, not Triangle Shirtwaist which was even more tragic as the owners actually *made a profit* on their workers’ deaths.) The ones who do the dirty and often times demeaned and demeaning work for the entitled classes (hint, that includes you.)

Those are the people we honor on Labor Day.

Stop demanding it be about you, Mr. Middle Manager. Because it never was and never will be.

By: Christopher Francis

Christopher Francis — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 06:31:57 +0000

Dearest Readers,

If Labor Day is meant to honor those who work for others, does that include middle managers who aren’t really “on the floor,” and not in the front office, either?

I am one of those people who are in this job description — supervising others and yet not the boss. The demands of a TV newsroom have your humble servant (and his fellow producers) working their tails off. No, we’re not unionized, and I don’t see it happening, especially not in Arizona.

My point is this: it seems to me people believe Labor Day is only for union members, despite the rhetoric of others to broaden the definition to include “the American worker.” If it truly is a holiday to honor American workers, why are we saying that management can’t be included in that definition?

If it truly is a “union-only” holiday, or “working-stiff only” day, then maybe we should just call it “Union Day” or “Working Stiff Day.” At least that would be clearer.

With Blessings To All Workers (Even The Ones At The Top),
Christopher