Labor Day is over, but the hard work goes on

Frontiersman editorial board

Yesterday we celebrated Labor Day by taking a day off from the toils of our daily lives. It's always a great opportunity for each of us to take a well-deserved breather, but it's also an oportunity to think of the hard-working people who made a difference in our lives, and also of those people whose work is so critical to us, though that work is also sometimes invisible.

Work doesn't always seem to carry the same prestige it once did. There was a time when work, alone, was a sufficient measure of a person. What mattered about a person wasn't how much money he earned, but rather that he actually did earn it -- a fair day's wage for a fair day's work. Back then, when someone asked you what you did, it was because they wanted to know how hard you worked. These days, they're more interested in the size of your paycheck.

Labor Day is not often thought of as one of the big holidays. It's the last holiday of summer, so we value it more as an opportunity to enjoy one more long weekend before school starts up again, and before the long stretch to the next holiday.

That's a shame, because what we're celebrating is at least as important as Independence Day, Memorial Day or Veteran's Day. We're celebrating the accomplishments, often made at great sacrifice, of American working people. While young soldiers were deployed all over the world during World War II, the industrial machine at home kicked into high gear. Many women entered the workforce for the first time, and the war effort was supported by their hard work. many of the things we now take for granted were earned with the sweat and strain of many who came before us.

Now we live in a society that almost seems to run automatically. When we flick the switch and the room fills with light, we don't give a thought to the people toiling to make that little piece of magic happen. When the lights went out in the Northeast part of the country recently, a shiver rippled through the whole country. That's when we notice the people who make things happen. Next time you buy a gallon milk at the supermarket, try to imagine the path that milk followed to the refrigerator. You'll be amazed at how many people worked to make that happen.

Now that the holiday is over, and we're all back doing our part, perhaps the best tribute of all would be to once again place the value of good, hard work above the value of a dollar and to make at least a small effort to appreciate one another for the effort we each make rather than simply for the bank account we may or may not keep full.