Labor Day is described as a day of rest for the workingman. I will add workingwomen to that definition. According to Wikipedia, the holiday originated in 1882 as the Central Labor Union of New York City sought to create a day off for the workingman. It was also a day created to emphasize the strength and spirit of the trade and labor organizations.

I am lucky. I do not have to work outside my home on Labor Day. If I choose, I do not have to work inside my home on Labor Day. There are many workers that are working this Labor Day. I imagine emergency and health care workers have always been on duty on Labor Day. I suspect in 1882 the stores were not open so people could shop on Labor Day. I suspect most people were celebrating the day with picnics and parades.

Our labor day is probably very different from the Labor Day that the Union of New York City imagined. Labor Day is a day of rest for some people. Labor Day is a day to shop for some people. Labor Day is a day to get kids ready to go back to school. Many communities hold festivals on Labor Day to celebrate the end of summer.

I am going to take a moment this Labor Day to be thankful that I have a job. I do a lot of complaining about my job and the fact that I have to walk out the door most mornings to go to my job. I think complaining about our jobs might be second nature. It isn’t the fact that we dislike our job, it is the fact that we all seem to dream of a day when we can retire and we do not have to walk out the door every morning to labor. I like my job but I can think of a zillion things that would be fun to do instead of working at my job.

What would the world be like without laborers? What would happen if no one ever worked? We couldn’t shop. We would have no food because we would be lazing all the time and no one would be farming. Our children’s diapers would not be changed. We would not eat because even plucking a raspberry would be work.

What would the world be like if everyone lounged all the time? We would not be fat because no one would grow our food or cook. We would all live outside because building a shelter would be work. We would be living a very simple life because all the modern conveniences we are all used to would not exist because it would have been work to invent them and to run them.

This is a useless and unrealistic column. It makes no sense, but in a way it does. We should be thankful we could labor. We should be thankful for all the opportunities that we have in our country. We should be thankful for the garbage haulers, the farmers, the mothers, the fathers, donut makers, construction workers, doctors, lawyers, managers, waitresses, pest control people and the list can go on. We should be thankful for every person that contributes to making this country the great country that it is.

If you earn $5 an hour and you do the best job you can do, you should be proud. If you earn $1 million and you do the best job you can do, you should be proud. We need all of you. All of these jobs are important. Many years ago people were proud to be a laborer in this country. They were proud to contribute something. We need to recognize these contributions because all of these jobs make our lives work.

Thank you for laboring to make our lives work.

Wells resident Julie Seedorf’s column appears every Friday. Send e-mail to her at thecolumn@bevcomm.net.