As much as I love getting a paid-holiday off/on from work, I’m always annoyed by my country’s obsession with commercializing the day. There’s always sales set around the Fourth of July, Presidents’ Day (it covers at least two), Memorial Day, etc.
In recent years, the Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King got his observed birthday to be recognized as a National Holiday. Other than employers, who objected? Banks look for any reason to be closed. Kids love a day off from school. Oh right…racists and NeoConfederates.
Sadly, it’s another blitz of ads and sales to get people to go shopping over the three-day weekend, not to spend at least an hour reflecting on the guy’s point on making America a more just and equal society.
Therefore I love to tell my annual joke…
*Ahem!*
Remember my fellow Americans. MLK had a dream!
A dream in which you can save 20% on all bedding and mattresses this week at Mattresses Plus!
A dream in which the children of all colors and creeds could hold hands and get down to Toyotathan, get a great deal on the latest Camry or Tacoma!
It gets a chuckle and/or groan amongst my friends and co-workers. This year, I reminded my friend Jeremy about this over there in the Netherlands, where they don’t have the day off, because they’re “socialists,” unlike our center-right government that only gives MLK reluctant lip service. He tried it out on his non-American/Canadian co-workers. It resulted in a puzzled look. They didn’t understand what MLK had to do with saving money on mattresses and the majority thought Toyotathan was a car race like Daytona.
Now that’s comedy!