Memorial Day Weekend

It's always bugged me that Memorial Day has been so crassly commercialized, and people don't seem to give a thought to the original intent of Memorial Day.

I mean, it's one thing if you want to turn Christmas into an orgy of consumerist mayhem. I mean, that's kind of what it was in the first place before Orthodox Christianity appropriated it from the pagans.

But Memorial Day, c'mon! Is that how you want to honor fallen combat veterans? Go get an interest free sofa bed from the Levitz showroom?

Of course, like anybody I have my less somber Memorial Day Weekend traditions. Like I try to get the backyard under control and take an informal inventory of the fauna who've moved in for the season. (Looks like we've got a new species of vaguely satanic looking dragonfly in the neighborhood.)

But you know. Let's start observing Memorial Day for what it really is. Otherwise it's just gonna get more and more commercial until you wake up one day and say to yourself "Oh no! It's the last week of April and I haven't started my Memorial Day shopping yet! I need to get down to Home Depot right now and buy new patio furniture!"

Kurt "big daddy" True
28 may 2006