Summertime and the Livin's Easy

I bet you didn't expect to get four posts in one week, well I aim to please all three of you, who only read this because you're bored at work. I know how it is, and I do not judge. I think my iPod is trying to tell me something. In the last week I've heard Metallica's "For Whom the Bell Tolls" four times. I probably haven't heard this tune four times in the last five years, and yet here it is again rockin' my soul at 8:47 am. We have the dreaded "all hands" call with the new owners today, so maybe this song is apropos.

Back to the subject at hand, Memorial Day. How can we truly honor those who have served and paid the ultimate price for this country? Three day weekend bitches! What started as a day to honor those killed in the Civil War, has become an excuse to gorge ourselves on burgers, dogs and beers. Is it right? Is it respectful? Not really, but it is American.

We didn't invent the three day weekend, but this country puts work before family and life. We don't have 35 hour work weeks or take month long holidays like the Europeans. We don't break up the work day with long breaks like they do in South America. A majority of us are working 50-50 (50 hours a week, 50 weeks a year) so when the long weekend rolls around, we go apeshit like Lindsay Lohan at Hyde after getting out of rehab.

Memorial day isn't just a great weekend for us working stiffs. For the stay at home suburban Mom, this is the greatest day of the year, because of five little words. The pool is now open! The swings at the park are silent and the aisles in Target have become a ghost town, because the MILF's are working on their skin cancer, while little Connor and Brayden are busy pissing in the pool. God, I hate that little Connor kid.

The unoffical start to summer is upon us, so break out the grill, crack open a beer, enjoy the traffic jams and the $4 gas, be thankful that the Pens are still playing, but take a second to remember why we have an extra day off.

Cheers!