Here in the United States it is the day set aside to honor those who are part of the workforce. In 1872 in Toronto workers demonstrated demanding rights for workers. In 1882 about 100 workers took uppaid leave in New York City and demonstrated. At that time, many worked an average of 12 hours a day seven days a week. Children as young as five and six worked in factories and mines, often in unsafe conditions. (Forbes.com) It behooves us to remember that those who have been touted as philanthropists were often the owners of businesses which made a significant profit on the backs of the average worker. Although this has changed for some workers, many of those whose generous giving we celebrate continue to get rich by making a huge profit off of products which poor people need to survive. In some company both wages and working conditions are improved although recent political conditions are making it possible to dilute the power and rights of works to a decent wage and safe working conditions. There is, for example, an increase in the number of men and women with black lung disease.
Many of us no longer do physical labor although there are still many that I know who work very demanding long days performing hard physical labor. Some of these workers are decently paid but are expected to put personal and family needs aside.
Many of us take for granted the ability to go to a large chain grocery store where are filled with products from all over the world. They are much different than the grocery store at which my mother shopped as sparingly as possible. While shopping we may not be thinking of the back-breaking work of the farm hand who is working in the fields or the factory worker who may or may not paid a living wage. In my home, there are many products which are wholly or, in part, from factories which may or may not have safe conditions and where workers may or may not be paid a decent wage.
Many of us enjoy many luxuries which are parents and grandparents did not have, but which we now see as necessities. We may or may not stop to think about the systemic price our neighbors are paying for our convenient luxuries.
I was listening to a person who worked in the steel mills until he retired. He talked of the satisfaction after doing a hard-physical days’ work. I grew up mostly in the country and worked very hard. Later I worked in offices and sometimes back on a farm. When first in graduate school I worked for a time at a local dairy farm. My job was to wash off the cows prior to them being hooked up to the milking machine. Sometimes I also operated a jack hammer or stood on top of a hot boxcar assisting the damp feed to get loose enough to be taken out of the box car. The physical exhaustion in the hot New Jersey son or the cold winter could leave one drained, but there was, as the person being interviewed said, a sense of satisfaction which one does not always have after a long day working at a desk in a clean, crisp costume.
Today, on this day set aside for the worker who did not go to a well-equipped gym this morning, have a delicious breakfast in a restaurant while visiting a friend, or drive a safe car, I will stop to consider the systemic price of the luxuries I enjoy but which I did not earn by working harder or being considered more sacred by the god of my understanding. Today I will be more aware of my own arrogance and my relatively lack of gratitude and humility. Today I will give thanks for Grace – for gifts I did not earn but which all deserve.
Written September 3, 2018