I know it may not feel like it because oh my lordy y’all does it not feel like it in Texas, but summer is o-v-e-r.
School has started back up for almost everyone. August 27 — the official first day of Pumpkin Spice Latte season, which is basically synonymous with seasons changing — has come and gone. And the actual first day of autumn (Monday, September 23) is literally exactly three weeks away.
Face it: Summer 2019 is gone.
Some people — desperate people, people including me! — hang on to summer though. It’s not that we enjoy being super fucking hot and covered with bug bites at all times, and it’s not that we don’t have October shit to do. It’s that we dislike being chilly more than we dislike sweating. That, and the arrival of fall means Janbruary and the sixteen-week-long winter purgatory show season is right around the corner…
The passage of time, however, doesn’t have to be all bad. Enter Labor Day.
Today, September 2, 2019, is Labor Day — denoting a three-day weekend that many use to mark the *real* end of summer, autumnal equinox and Starbucks’ rules be damned!
The NEW first day of fall is… today! It's officially PSL season! ? #PumpkinSpiceLatte pic.twitter.com/usLI9kywW6
— Starbucks Coffee (@Starbucks) August 27, 2019
Labor Day is an interesting holiday. Unlike some of the other popular sale weekends — I’m thinking Veteran’s Day, in particular — Labor Day doesn’t have much of a somber history that we willfully jettison in lieu of thinking about 50 percent off deals and day drinking.
According to the US Department of Labor, Labor Day was created by the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of US workers. The first Labor Day happened in 1882, and the holiday constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity and wellbeing of our country. So, as a worker, it’s a celebration that you can feel okay about!
(Actually, I’m willing to bet that countless people had to suffer under terrible labor conditions before the powers-that-be decided to create a single three-day weekend in their/our honor. Today, we should totally take a moment to think about them and pour one out in their honor.)
Regardless, whatever it is that you’re doing today, I invite you to reflect on your labor. Your work is important. You are a creative, engaging and integral part of society! You make people happy. You contribute to wider and local economies, while also fighting the good fight for myriad freedoms via a path less traveled. Today is your day, enjoy it!
A friend of mine was recently driving through Georgia, where the end of summer also marks peach picking season. As such, here’s a peach-inspired, end-of-summer Labor Day playlist, just for you.
Thank you for your service, fellow worker! xx — erika
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Erika is a sex positive people watcher (and writer). Email her at erika@ynotcam.com.
Header images by Molly Champion (l) and xaviershanley (r) via Pexels.
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