On Veterans' Day
Veterans’ Day is one of those holidays federal workers catch a lot of grief over. I ought to know, I once was a federal worker. I’ve heard on more than a few occasions folks green with envy going off on how “those (insert favorite expletive here) government workers” get way too much time off. But those people are often strangely silent on days like Christmas Eve or the day after Thanksgiving or any of those picture perfect Saturdays in the summertime that seem like they were made for getting away from it all—days off those people take for granted. On those days somebody still has to show up at your post office and put in a full days’ work of getting your mail and all your neighbors’ mail delivered to your neighborhood.A healthy percentage of postal employees are veterans, due in part to a 5 to 10 point preference they receive on the competitive postal examinations used to hire postal employees. There may be similar preferences in place for civil servants, although I really don’t know. It has always struck me as a little ironic that people would begrudge the many veterans that still serve the public through their government job the time off on the day specially designated for honoring them.
My brother-in-law, who writes From On High, wrote a very nice piece on Veterans’ Day (you’ll have to scroll down to the November 11 entries on his blog). It’s a nice tribute to one of the countless many veterans that made a contribution to our nation’s welfare. There is no statue raised to him anywhere, and neither his name nor face are recognized by most that come across them. Although he might be a rather anonymous contributor to our common good, I’m sure there are many more like this guy that should also be remembered, especially on Veterans’ Day. This guy happens to be my brother-in-law’s father, and is, therefore, the father of my lovely wife.
posted by dave @ Monday, November 14, 2005
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home