A story appeared on July 18, 2012, in The Times Picayune highlighting the public health issues surrounding the impending implosion of the Pallas Hotel, which was being brought down to make way for the new University Medical Center that is being built in downtown New Orleans.  Concerns about airborne particles and their impact on asthma and other respiratory problems had caused the state to put in place plans to evacuate a 600 foot perimeter around the site.  But the Iberville Housing Project sits 725 feet from the site and no plans had been made to evacuate the residents of the 400 apartment complex.  Accompanying the article was the following picture:

Public outcry was fierce.  The only problem was that the outcry focused not on the public health issues, not on the 125 feet of injustice that this picture represents and not on the brazen disregard for the poor who have no voice and must fend for themselves.  No, the public made its feelings known about whether or not the boy pictured sitting on the front steps of his apartment deserved to have an iPad, and the consensus was that a young, poor (black, though no one went that far) boy in the projects ought to have an iPad.  Some even went so far as to imply that it was probably stolen.

Another picture appeared on the Sunday following Hurricane Issac.  It showed a family from the small community of Braithwaite, in Plaquemine Parish,who had lost everything when their home was flooded, but had somehow managed to save a framed, signed jersey of New Orleans Saints Quarterback, Drew Brees.  Again, responses were quick and varied “Really, you lost your house, but saved the jersey?”  “Were there not more important things to try to salvage?”  Some saw them as true believers while others saw them as just another poor family with misplaced priorities.

Does a poor black boy from the projects deserve an iPad?

Should a poor family from a small community risk their lives to save a football jersey?

Who has the right to judge anyone without spending a day in their life or walking a mile in their shoes?

What does this have to do with me?

Today is Labor Day.  Most have a “day off” from the work that they do.  Many will benefit from those who do not get the day off from work.  Few of us truly realize the significance of labor, work and the sacrifices many make that prove beneficial to those of us lucky enough to have a “day off.”  It is easy on a day like today to misplace our priorities.

I took the time today to visit the website of the U.S. Department of Labor in hopes of better understanding the history and rationale behind this national holiday.  I discovered that

…”Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country….

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City, in accordance with the plans of the Central Labor Union. The Central Labor Union held its second Labor Day holiday just a year later, on September 5, 1883.

In 1884 the first Monday in September was selected as the holiday, as originally proposed, and the Central Labor Union urged similar organizations in other cities to follow the example of New York and celebrate a “workingmen’s holiday” on that date. The idea spread with the growth of labor organizations, and in 1885 Labor Day was celebrated in many industrial centers of the country. Through the years the nation gave increasing emphasis to Labor Day. The first governmental recognition came through municipal ordinances passed during 1885 and 1886. From them developed the movement to secure state legislation. The first state bill was introduced into the New York legislature, but the first to become law was passed by Oregon on February 21, 1887. During the year four more states — Colorado, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York — created the Labor Day holiday by legislative enactment. By the end of the decade Connecticut, Nebraska, and Pennsylvania had followed suit. By 1894, 23 other states had adopted the holiday in honor of workers, and on June 28 of that year, Congress passed an act making the first Monday in September of each year a legal holiday in the District of Columbia and the territories.” 1

So, Labor Day has been around for a long time.  But, as the saying goes, familiarity breeds contempt.  Few people today associate Labor Day with the Labor Movement.  I know I don’t.  Labor Day has almost become a national entitlement, a day off we all feel we deserve for working so hard.   Rarely do we think about those whose labors continue even when ours are able to cease, if but only for a day.   Few of us see anything wrong with benefiting from the labor of others.  If everyone else simply worked as hard as we have to get where we are, then they too could truly celebrate labor and obey the national cease and desist order that this day brings with it, for after all, as some would have us believe, we live in an opportunity society and those who work hard benefit, and those who don’t, well, they are the ones that have to work on Labor Day.

As I sat down to place my order for lunch today, I could not help but think of these pictures when I looked at the face of the poor student who was working so that I could enjoy a nice relaxing day of rest from all my labor.  She was pleasant, attentive and provided excellent service. The irony of the moment was overwhelming.  Here she and others were working so that I, and so many others, could enjoy a “day off.”

I hope that we all will take some time today and reflect on our lives – our blessings, our obligations, our faulty assumptions, our misplaced priorities, the things we have that we worked for and the ways in which we benefit from the work and labor of others.  It was Ian MacLaren who said, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is carrying a heavy burden.” 2

They say a picture is worth a thousand words.  But for the girl who waited on my table today, she was simply hoping it was worth at least 20%.