To the editor:
Thursday, November 11th was Veterans Day. At 6:30 that evening my son and I were home just finishing supper when the door bell rang. It was our Frontier Internet Repairman. He had come out to fix our internet. With a smile on his face, he asked us a lot of questions about our problem. At one point I asked him if he was busy and he said he generally works from 6 a.m. until 9 p.m. most days because they are shorthanded. He wasn't complaining, he was just stating a fact that they were busy and he was doing his part by working late and helping his customers. He said lately he has even been working seven days a week to keep his customers happy. He said to me in conversation, "you know today is Veterans Day" and I said "yes sir." He said he was a Vietnam War Vet and that he was drafted in 1968 right out of high school.
Stop for a minute. Thursday was Veterans Day and this Vietnam War Vet was working yet another 15 hour day on Veterans Day. Do you see something wrong with this picture?
I have no problem with government and bank employees getting Veteran's Day off relaxing and spending time with their families, but my really BIG question is, who is this day supposed to be for?
I don't expect to change the world with this editorial, but I hope people will stop and think about how messed up we have become. Think about Memorial Day what is that supposed to be about. What about Labor Day . . . what about Christmas?
Unfortunately, our country has come to expect these "privileges" of getting days off and we don't even "celebrate" them in the right way.
My hope and wish would be that you would take the five minutes necessary to write your elected official, who I am sure also had Veterans Day off and ask them to try and pass some law that allows the people we are supposed to be honoring at least "their" day off. Maybe all the people who take Veterans Day off and are not Vets could call up a Vet, take them to lunch and do something for them instead of themselves.
Mike Henle
Marshall