Thoughts on Real Estate Marketing…

If anyone is thinking about it, I sure haven’t heard anyone talking about it. Primarily, it’s just a reason for a 3-day week-end, an excuse for a barbecue, or possibly a time for camping out one last time before summer is over.

So, since I no longer remember what I might have learned in some long ago American History class, I decided to do a little research, and I found conflicting stories.

One point of agreement is that the first celebration was organized by Peter McGuire. But some accounts say it wasn’t so much as a celebration but as a rally. He was, at that time, working to organize workers into labor unions. So, on September 5, 1882, twenty thousand workers marched up Broadway in New York City, carrying banners that read “LABOR CREATES ALL WEALTH,” and “EIGHT HOURS FOR WORK, EIGHT HOURS FOR REST, EIGHT HOURS FOR RECREATION!”

Some say it was a day to honor labor and the idea just peacefully grew from State to State and was finally recognized as a Federal Holiday.

But that probably isn’t so. Other reports state that the reason Labor Day became a federal holiday in 1894 was to pacify workers and quell the threat of a further uprising from the labor movement. A number of workers had been killed by the U.S. military and U.S. Marshals during the Pullman Strike and President Grover Cleveland was worried.

After reading about the Pullman Strike, I think he had good cause for worry.

All reports agreed on one thing: Labor Day is a day set aside to honor the American worker.

So, let’s all remember to do that – and to extend a bit of that honor to ourselves. After all, each of us who gets up in the morning and gets to work is contributing to the prosperity of the country.

And, while the original Labor Day really was about people who did hard manual labor – and organized into unions – I personally think we should honor everyone who does his or her part – including the spouses and the kids who keep things running at home while someone else is out bringing in the dollars.

My hope and prayer for this Labor Day is that by this time next year, everyone who wants to work will have found a good job.