Labor Day

Earlier this week I was driving through town with my kids when one of them asks why there was a firefighter standing in the middle of the road with a boot.  As the fireman (he was a guy) approached our vehicle I told them that he was collecting money.  Which, of course, prompted the "What for?" question.  So I tell them that he and the other firefighters are collecting money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.  It had been a long day, otherwise I would have known that giving out information in small chunks to my children only invites more questions.  Like, "What is Muscular Dystrophy?"  and "Why do they need to collect money?"  and "Why do they put it in a smelly boot?"  and so on.  Welcome to my world.
When I was a kid Labor Day was synonymous with the MDA telethon.  I grew up in the Midwest, home of open plains, great BBQ and school districts that felt the need to start educating young minds in mid-August.  Back East, I was told, school did not start till after Labor Day, so the holiday had a different meaning (like the end of summer).  Since our summer had ended weeks before, Labor Day was this Monday we did not have to go to classes, which meant we could sleep in late, or, if our parents let us, stay up late and watch the telethon.  In an age of 24 hour programming on 200 plus channels this may not seem like a big deal.  But before cable/satellite TV there was not much to watch late at night.  The very idea of being able to watch TV at 3am sounded so exciting when you were 9.  Even if that meant watching Jerry Lewis trying to guilt you into giving money for a cause you did not understand.  And who was the Wayne Newton dude?
For those of us born after 1965 Jerry Lewis was the telethon guy.  Most of us had no clue that in the 1950s he was this hyperactive sidekick to Dean Martin.  I am told that Jerry was a professional comedian, which comes as a surprise to everyone but the French.  They think he is funny.  Really funny (feel free to insert your own joke about the French here).  Before the Germans had David Hasselhoff, the French had Jerry Lewis.  For me the only thing funny about Jerry Lewis is the spoof that the Anamaniacs cartoon did of him (I think Crusty the Clown on The Simpson's is based on Jerry).  The comedy stylings of Jerry Lewis are an acquired taste.  Like snails.
I find it truly amazing how the meaning of things can change over time.  Labor Day was supposed to be a time in which we honored and celebrated workers by giving them the day off.  Everyone else on the planet does it on May 1, but Americans love to be different and we opted to do it in September.  I don't remember much talk about labor in my house the first weekend in September (though I come from solid working class stock).  Yet, I do remember Jerry, and Ed McMahon, and tuxes and people on television looking rather ragged and hung over.  That was what Labor Day was all about.
Notice the use of the word "was."  Jerry has fallen victim to technology.  He is no longer the only show on TV.  In fact, with the advent of digital television, the MDA telethon did not even make it on the main station where I live.  It was bumped to the secondary channel.  And new causes and crusades have gained the attention of people in America.  The Relay For Life gets a lot more press then the MDA telethon does.  Not that one is better than the other, just that people's interests have shifted. 
Still, who in 1955 would have thought that a generation of people would remember Jerry Lewis as a telethon host and not as a comedian?  Or that Labor Day would have a meaning that had nothing to do with celebrating labor?  Kind of makes me wonder how I will be remembered in the future.  As a minister?  A historian?  Or something that I can not even possibly imagine right now.  However I am remembered I hope it is for doing good.  Oh, and that I am widely popular in France.