Presidents’ Day is February 19th, But it Doesn’t Mean Anything Anymore
/In case you’re like everyone else and forgotten, February 12th is Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday
ABRAHAM LINCOLN, JUST BEFORE HE WENT SHOPPING TO CELEBRATE PRESIDENT’S DAY. (PHOTO BY CALEB FISHER ON UNSPLASH)
I got my first Presidents’ Day weekend sale flyer about two weeks ago from an outdoor outfitter of which I am a loyal customer. However, at a time when we’re on the brink of conflict with China, letting our allies in Ukraine lose the war against Russia, battling a Republican Congress that can’t seem to get out of its own way, and cringing at crazy election hopefuls, I have to admit thinking about Presidents’ Day Sale savings made me slightly ill.
Happy Presidents’ Day. Now go buy something!
Just what President are we supposed to be honoring, and why was he so interested in shopping?
I’m not a fan of three-day weekends to begin with because they seem to dilute any meaningful lesson, but this one really gets to me. Things are different now than when I was a kid. There wasn’t any Presidents’ Day and we managed.
We did however commemorate two days in February that were connected to real people. Real Americans who believed in real principles and were anything but dedicated to the end of the Union. Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday is on February 12th and George Washington’s Birthday is on February 22nd. Both were floating days of the week each year when schools were closed, mail didn't get delivered and a lot of people got the day off.
They meant something.
Now, half the kids are walking around wondering just who are those strange people whose portrait is on our money … that’s if they even have real money instead of little plastic cards.
These two days are now celebrated as the innocuous and meaningless “Presidents’ Day” on the third Monday. of February, which seems designed to make us forget our history. I much preferred the old way where we had holidays that meant something. Who the hell wants to celebrate Herbert Hoover?! Or Donald Trump for that matter?
But in addition to taking the “link” out of Lincoln’s and Washington’s birthdays, we’ve made Memorial Day a three-day sales event as well.
That holiday comes and goes with way less fanfare than it did when I was a kid and with far less meaning. Granted, most of the men like my father were recent veterans of WWII, so there was a personal connection. As a consequence, the Memorial Day Poppies from the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) and the American Legion adorned everyone’s lapel like sand on a Normandy beach.
Now, those poppies are scarcely seen and definitely misunderstood.
Instead, it’s all about a mini “vacation” and Memorial Day sales events. Ugh.
Personally, I liked it when the holidays floated. The day itself meant something more. And, the days around it often turned into holidays themselves in a time when it was more about enjoying family and friends than cramming it all into a three-day weekend, increasing productivity, and creating an opportunity to by more stuff we don't need.
That’s what is great about the July 4th Independence Day. You can't change it to fall on a Monday.
I will say one thing though. On President’s Day, I take a few moments to watch “A Night at the Garden”.
A couple of years ago in pre-pandemic 2019, I found out about this Academy Award Nominated Short “A Night at the Garden” which took place on February 20th, 1939. The 7-plus minutes are scary enough to make the January 6th attack on Congress look like a Sunday School picnic. If you want to get the truth about why we should be scared shitless about losing our democracy, watch it.
Frightening.
I just imagine another former President of ours whose number is 45 at the speaker’s platform and remember what all of this is about in the first place.
I only wish we had a few more Presidents like Washington (who much to the surprise of everyone) gracefully handed over the reins of power without so much as a whimper.
Or like Lincoln, who is really the poster child for when people who didn’t want to believe in an election’s outcome take matters into their own hands. He paid with his life just days after being inaugurated in 1865.
Maybe if we all thought more about our country’s history than the next sale at Walmart, this 3-day weekend holiday might be worth it after all.
