No Day Off for You

This morning, I left a little early because the temperature has been below zero lately and I thought this momentous occasion meant I could splurge and take the bus instead of walking to the train station. To my surprise, I didn’t see the usual line outside my bus stop and my bus was so empty I got a seat right next to the front. My train to work was so empty I was able to sit instead of stand. The walk from my train stop to work was quiet and almost peaceful.

And then I remembered that my easy commute wasn’t because the gods of transportation had taken pity on me, but rather because my company was one of the only companies in New York City that required their employees to work today. Because today was a national holiday, and while most people were commemorating by sleeping in, or shopping, or even recovering from a 'Sunday Funday' hangover, I was celebrating by getting to work early so I could make sure my boss had a car to pick her up at the airport this afternoon (because that’s what good assistants do). 

So, in short, if I could say one thing to the CEO of my company and not get fired, it would be this: I just want to let you know that Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is a federal holiday (which means it’s a holiday recognized by the United States – yes, the entire country) that we celebrate to remember a man who successfully changed racial federal and state laws through nonviolent protests and hard work. And if that isn’t a good enough reason to get the day off to sleep in, I don’t know what is. I also have a dream, and that dream is to have the next federal holiday off.