I know not everyone is exactly thrilled with celebrating the accomplishments of Christopher Columbus. By most accounts he wasn't the world's greatest guy. There is strong evidence that he wasn't the first European to make the voyage to the "New World". But today is a great chance for Americans to embrace something we have way too few of in my opinion, a day off.
I was reading an article today about how a labor union representing California State workers told the today was a holiday, while the state doesn't recognize Columbus Day as a true public holiday. We have too few real public holidays. It seems like the only days most people have off are Thanksgiving and Christmas. And for folks who are in the retail business, you better be at the store the day after. I think its a slap in the face to the American worker that more stores aren't shuttered on other public holidays. There aren't many of them if you think about it. New Years' Day, Martin Luther King Jr., President's Day, Easter, Memorial Day, The 4th, Labor Day, Columbus Day, and Veteran's Day. Certainly most companies can afford to close down and give their employees a little extra paid time with their families on these days. I know this to be true because in most other countries it is the case.
A CNNmoney analysis of countries shows paid time off for full time workers in America equals that of Taiwan...
http://money.cnn.com/2007/06/12/pf/vacation_days_worldwide/
We're in the same league as Indonesia, Hong Kong, and the fore mentioned Taiwan, while countries like Lithuania, Slovakia, and Israel enjoy 15 more days off than we do every year. Maybe I'm just grumpy because I have to work today and for the first time in my life I will not be spending the Holidays at home. What individual wouldn't enjoy a few extra days off though?
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