Well, okay, most specifically, we need a proper statuatory holiday for the winter season. Think about it. January 1st, we have New Years. Then we go to mid March (and sometimes up to early April) until we get another paid day off of work, to celebrate the death of a Jew by eating pork. Almost three whole months. Nowhere else on the calendar has that long an absence. In May, we have Victoria Day (otherwise known as May 2-4), Canada Day on July 1, a manditory stat holiday the first Monday in August as a creatively named “Civic Holiday”, Labour Day in September, Thanksgiving in October, Rememberance Day in November, and all the Christmas Hoopla in December. Now it may seem much already, but bear this in mind. The stretch between January and March is usually toughest for us Canadians. Loads of snow (well usually rain in here in Vancouver, less this year), which means crazy driving conditions, very short days, very long nights, and countless hours of Leaf Hockey broadcast on the Toronto controlled networks (thank you Rogers for Sportsnet, so we don’t have to put up with that tripe).
All I’m really asking is for some odd day in the middle of the lot to have for a singular paid day off. It really needs to be a marked day, not just a unimportant August Monday. For all the days of note, Guinness is lobbying to make St. Patrick’s Day a federal holiday here. I’m all for it. However, there are two problems. First, as it becomes quite obvious, we’d need to make March 18 a holiday also. I have no objections to that. Where do I sign up? More importantly though, it is close enough to eat pork on the death of a Jew holiday that it doesn’t bridge the gap. But I don’t care. I want two holidays in there now.
Some might note Valentine’s Day. Come on. This day (and the weeks preceeding it) is far from a holiday for all the men out there.
I suggest this. Super Bowl Sunday. Not that I watch that rugby like game that is misnamed much anymore, but hell, it’s as recognizable an event as we have in North America, let alone the world. And seeing as it’s a Sunday, the actual paid day off work would be Monday. Then the non-drinkers can take the day off too. Just try to think back to years past. How many of your co-workers have taken the day after the Super Bowl off as a sick day? I’m sure they didn’t have flu. You might as well have all of us off on a paid holiday. You’re not getting any work done that day anyway.
That is all.
