As far as somber days go, Memorial Day is as far from ‘memorial? as it could be. If there had not been discussion in our news room about covering the Memorial Day Parade in town, it would be a safe bet I wouldn’t have thought much of the holiday myself either.
It’s not that I feel the day isn’t worth observing or those for whom the day is intended are not worthy of such a dedication’far from that. The idea I thought of to keep people in ‘remembrance mode? would likely fail because it would strip Americans of the liberty granted by those who deserve our remembrance.
My plan is simple. Every American visits a memorial parade, donate their time to some sort of Memorial Day effort, watch some sort of documentary or, heck, even surf the Web to learn more about the day. Spend a couple hours doing one or more of those instead of cruising the interstate for a ‘retreat.? Plenty of people gave their lives so you could have that three-day weekend.
A segment of a 2002 Memorial Day address from the Veterans of Foreign Wars, from www.usmemorialday.org, reads: ‘Changing the date merely to create three-day weekends has undermined the very meaning of the day. No doubt, this has contributed greatly to the general public’s nonchalant observance of Memorial Day.?
My biggest complaint is that people just look at the weekend as another excuse to vacation or party. Would the day be better remembered if everyone was supposed to be at work and not given the day off?
Much of the American workforce enjoys the unofficial kickoff to summer. But the rest of the working corps. remains at their jobs, because with the day off comes the opportunity to capitalize on their spending by retailers, restaurants etc.
‘Money makes the world go ’round,? I’ve been told. Not that I didn’t believe it as a youth, but I see and revile in it each and every day as I grow older.
Also as a child, my parents reminded me that even though stores were open on Sundays, it didn’t used to be that way. Everything used to be closed on Sunday and just because someplace is open, it doesn’t mean we need to go there. And as I grew older, I began to forget about what they had said and even they themselves violated their rule.
As an adult, it can be annoying if I need something from a smaller store because it’s closed on Sundays, but refreshing all the same.
While it does make life convenient, should anything be open on Memorial Day? Even gas stations? If everyone were forced by federal law to cease business operations, travel, and recreation and spend time with their families and remember the fallen, then the day would serve the purpose I believe it was designed for.
But forcing observance of the holiday would be unfair and ‘Gestapo-like,? and go against the freedoms bestowed us by war heroes.