it is Independence

In our present American society, we worked today the Fourth of July.
All the stores were open people went to work. Customers were served money was made. My little shop was closed. I worked at my second job.
We came several hundred dollars below estimation but we were there to serve the 20 some odd people who wondered in to buy shoes. I did not receive Holiday pay, apparently there is a loop hole so that PT employees are exempt from time and a half. Tonight I am rained on by ash as I sit outside watching a fireworks display. We are at a very small town old timey event. A community orchestra is playing Americana music in the parking lot of the high school and the fireworks are being set off about 500 feet in front of us in the soccer fields.

The sound is LOUD so loud each crack shakes my ribcage. I am sitting next to my father who served in a war across the sea. He told me once that fireworks often bothered him because the sound is so much like the actual battle it takes him back there in his mind. As I am sitting here now rain soaking the ground I am thinking about all the men women and innocent lives taken by war. I am wondering why we do not reserve this day. Why were the shops open? Why were the people shopping? Can we not take one day out of our commerce driven lives to sit and tell stories of past events, laugh with our families, play games and relax? And it is not just Independence Day, but what about Labor Day? Why or why are businesses open on Labor Day? How about Memorial Day? Presidents Day? Thanksgiving and Christmas? Why do we need to make money every single day of the year? Are we that much richer?