One of the lessons my father taught me growing up was to always give an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. That was a lesson I always tried to impress upon my children, my students, and my athletes, throughout my life and career, even if the “pay” wasn’t always monetary. It could have been monetary, or the rewards of becoming a better student, or a better family member, or a better friend, or a better person, or a healthier person (in mind and/or body), or a better student, or a better ball player, or a better citizen, and then a better employee where the pay would become monetary.

In order to become a better (choose one from the list above) whatever, we must first make the commitment to do whatever is physically or mentally possible to give ourselves the best chance to become that better “whatever.” That requires work.

Tomorrow, we celebrate the end of summer, the beginning of autumn, the shift to the new NFL season, the new school year, and, oh yeah, Labor Day, a day in which we honor the work force of this country, those who keep this country operating industrially, product-wise, service-wise, and economically. It is a day set aside to honor those who work with their hands, their minds, and their hearts to become, and remain, self-sufficient citizens, and to provide themselves as much as they can, and assist in the economic growth of this country by being a part of the economic cycle of working for pay, then using that pay to help support their nation, states, and communities through the payment of taxes, and also spending a lot of that pay on goods and services, thus keeping or creating demands for more of those goods and services. This creates the need for more workers, who in turn will make money and they too can become part of the economic cycle and help keep our country, our state, and our communities running as self-sufficiently as possible.

Wikipedia offers a definition of Labor Day as, “A celebration of the American Labor movement dedicated to the social and economic achievements of workers. It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of their country.”

The celebration of Labor Day was first proposed in 1882. It became a state holiday beginning in 1887 with Oregon being the first state to celebrate it on Feb. 21 of that year. It became a national holiday in 1894. When it finally did, 30 states were already celebrating the day of honoring the laborers of their individual states.

The celebration of Labor Day was proposed by members of the Central Labor Union. Today, there seems to be a present-day movement to break up unions in this country. If those trying to disband the unions are successful, will we cease to celebrate Labor Day in this country too?

The backbone of this country is its work force. Some say the American Dream is owning a home, and there is a lot of truth and merit to that thought, but to make that dream come true, one needs the wherewithal (the money) to be able to purchase that home, and that means working for that money. Working also gives those who do it a sense of pride and accomplishment, it gives people self-respect and self-esteem, because people themselves are using their employment opportunities to achieve that self-respect and self-esteem by doing for themselves. Working gives those who do it the motivation and rewards to take care of themselves and their families, and it gives those who work the rewarding feeling of achievement.

So it is truly right and proper that we honor those who do the work in this country, be it whatever type of work, in whatever field, and at whatever level of pay or whatever color “collar” of work is done, and also to honor those who have the motivation and initiative to work but due to economic conditions right now, and/or downsizing, and/or budget cuts, they may not have the chances for employment at this particular time. They too are workers, but unfortunately there may just not be the work for them to do. And to those working, no job or career is unimportant, no shift worked, or training necessary makes any one laborer more or less important than another in the giant scheme of labor in this country, so today we must take time to honor all workers.

Ours is a country that has welcomed, and still does, immigrants from all over the world who came to this country looking for a better life, willing to work hard and become citizens of this nation, not asking for a handout, but an opportunity to become self-sufficient citizens of this country. People came here looking for work, wanting to work, and not afraid of work, and they are the reason for the celebration of this seemingly forgotten holiday. Many celebrate the day off and the holiday with area festivals, and picnics, and even fireworks displays, and their reasons vary from celebrating the end of summer, the beginning of fall, the shift to the new NFL season, and I know there are parents celebrating the beginning of the new school year (and I’m sure there are some kids who do too), but those reasons for celebration oftentimes overshadow the real reason, and honoree, for celebration … the American working person.

Hats off to all the workers of America. Thank you for the jobs that you do. Thank you for the motivation, the dedication, the perseverance, the strength, and the will to do for yourself, your family, your communities, your states, and your country. Thank you for the contributions you have made and continue to make to the strength, the prosperity, and the well-being of this country. Today belongs to all of you. America salutes all the participants in our working class. Happy Labor Day to you all.