Martin Luther King, Jr's Birthday
I am on my way to work today. The ferry isn't too full because many places give their employees the day off. My company does not. Our country made Dr. King's birthday a national holiday about 20 years ago to some controversy. Some white people I knew thought that the contributions he made to our world were significant, but we had only previously celebrated the birthdays of great former presidents (like Washington and Lincoln's birthdays, one in January and one in February), and that there were other great citizens of the 20th century that were similarly important, like Dr. Jonas Salk, who found a cure for polio. How do you compare the accomplishments of those men, they would say. Now, as an adult, I can see the masked racism in that rationalization. The black people I knew at the time were much less conflicted on the subject. They figured he deserved it and that they deserved it. My dad's point of view was pretty self-centered: "I'll happily celebrate as many national holidays as they give me."
That was also an obstacle to nationalizing his birthday. Our managing fathers (heirs of the founding fathers) decided that we could not afford to have two presidential birthdays and an MLK birthday all within the space of two months. So they conflated the two presidential birthdays into one February holiday and created the MLK holiday in January.
This was a pretty creative solution, but the corporate world had an even better one--the invention of the personal holiday. In most places now, employees are given vacation, the basic holidays like Christmas and July 4, and then a packet of personal holidays--three of them, usually. If Martin Luther King Jr. is so important to you, why don't you take it as one of your personal holidays? The answer is that you would, except you were planning to celebrate his accomplishments next month, when you were in Hawaii.
The brilliance of this invention serves several purposes. First, though I don't think such a rude policy is widespread, this bank of personal holidays also accounts for our sick time. The flu that knocks you out in July, for example, could prevent you from taking the Jewish High Holidays off--or perhaps it would force you to use vacation time. Also, since people are likely to take their holiday time off during non-holidays, it's easier to keep the business running. And, let's face it: All employees like flexibility and choice, even if it's partially an illusion.
That was also an obstacle to nationalizing his birthday. Our managing fathers (heirs of the founding fathers) decided that we could not afford to have two presidential birthdays and an MLK birthday all within the space of two months. So they conflated the two presidential birthdays into one February holiday and created the MLK holiday in January.
This was a pretty creative solution, but the corporate world had an even better one--the invention of the personal holiday. In most places now, employees are given vacation, the basic holidays like Christmas and July 4, and then a packet of personal holidays--three of them, usually. If Martin Luther King Jr. is so important to you, why don't you take it as one of your personal holidays? The answer is that you would, except you were planning to celebrate his accomplishments next month, when you were in Hawaii.
The brilliance of this invention serves several purposes. First, though I don't think such a rude policy is widespread, this bank of personal holidays also accounts for our sick time. The flu that knocks you out in July, for example, could prevent you from taking the Jewish High Holidays off--or perhaps it would force you to use vacation time. Also, since people are likely to take their holiday time off during non-holidays, it's easier to keep the business running. And, let's face it: All employees like flexibility and choice, even if it's partially an illusion.
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