Tuesday, October 14, 2008

10-14-08: Columbus Day

I don't have grad class tonight because of a schedule change due to my school being closed yesterday for Columbus Day. My father, a teacher, also had the day off.

Columbus Day is an odd holiday. Unlike Martin Luther King Day or Presidents Day, it's based on the celebration of a rather non-American historical persona in Christopher Columbus. He didn't even arrive in America and we're celebrating the guy. Isn't that a bit odd? Do kids really deserve a day off for that?

Columbus Day is also one of the few (major, at least) holidays that is both non-American and non-religious based. The only other one I can think of is St. Patrick's Day, but no one gets that one off. I think people should be allowed to trade. With Halloween and all that coming up, why take a day off for some guy who landed in the wrong place over 500 years ago? How many cultures look forward to Columbus Day, anyway?

I just think St. Patrick got jobbed on this one. You don't see any one protesting against his holiday, do you?

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