A Soft Answer

by Jimmy Johnson

June 16, 2016


I want to say I am totally on board with making Juneteenth a national holiday. June 19 is the day African Americans observe the end of slavery in America in 1865. Beyond that, I’m not going into the particulars, because there is discussion of it all over the Internet today. However, it generally is regarded as a joyous occasion, an impetus for family and community celebration. Juneteenth already is a state holiday in 49 states, but actual events tend to take place almost exclusively among black citizens. I think this is something we all could and should share. Officially. My only quibble is, I wish it were Aprilteenth. I have always felt we need a holiday between George Washington’s Birthday and Memorial Day! However, it can be cold in April, and Juneteenth would make a satisfying trilogy along with Memorial Day and Independence Day.


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28 responses to “A Soft Answer”

  1. TruckerRon Avatar

    I’ve had the Holidays option selected on my computer’s calendar for years. This is the first year that Juneteenth showed up on it. Which had me looking it up back on June 1 when it showed up. I’m glad it did! It’s something everyone should celebrate.

  2. Mark in TTown Avatar
    Mark in TTown

    Wouldn’t that be a group of four, including Labor Day? I can’t think what the term would be for that group, but why not? It’s Independence Day for African Americans.

    1. Jimmy Johnson Avatar

      Labor Day’s a worthy holiday, make no mistake about it. I guess I said “trilogy,” because Memorial Day and Independence Day already are within a month of one another (almost). Throw another smack in the middle, and that’s a lot of holidays in a short time. But then, what’s wrong with that?! 🙂

      1. Steve the Rigger Avatar

        The only thing wrong that I can think of is that the proliferation of holidays sometimes can cause a sort of apathy as to their real significance. But there’s no cure for that I suppose.
        Personally I would be happier with fewer, more meaningful holidays. Perhaps one Independence Day that covers all of us.
        Perhaps when we achieve liberty from the system that holds the monopoly on violence we can all celebrate together.

  3. emb Avatar
    emb

    “some scientists are now opining that we might very well be alone.” That’s not really news. Some have been, for decades, all the way from when many thought ours was the only “solar” system to now, when we know there are scads of [mostly unsuitable] stellar systems in our corner of one galaxy, among Billions of galaxies. My theology [partly] is there must be an afterlife so we can find out. Elaine already knows. Peace,

    1. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
      Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

      Thanks for the response here where I can see it. I checked for a reply for a couple of days and then gave up.

  4. Rick in Shermantown, Ohio Avatar
    Rick in Shermantown, Ohio

    “You’re in my spot.”

    Arlo must have enjoyed “The Big Bang Theory.”

  5.  Avatar
    Anonymous

    If you are looking for an April holiday, why not the 19th, the battles of Lexington and Concord

    “Where once the embattled farmers stood
    And fired the shot heard ’round the world.”

    1. Joedon Avatar
      Joedon

      When i was a working person in Boston I used to get that day off. Then the Boston marathon was around that day. And after the bombing several years ago when innocent bystanders were killed including a child and police officer during the pursuit. That is as wrong as what’s happening today but nobody mentions that.

    2. Steve From Royal Oak, MI Avatar

      Easter is April in many years, as is good Friday

  6. emb Avatar
    emb

    As close as this cam gets; you can ID house sparrows in the basement apt.
    https://explore.org/livecams/birds/charlo-montana-osprey-nest
    Peace,

    1. Mark in TTown Avatar
      Mark in TTown

      Ha ha ha! Good one. emb, I saw this and thought you might be interested. It looks to be original art and is signed by Thaves. https://www.shopgoodwill.com/Item/95749672

  7. Allen Martin Avatar
    Allen Martin

    There are lots of things that could be holidays, but aren’t. For instance, celebrating the day that women finally got the right to vote. I think we have enough holidays and don’t need to add others.

    1. TruckerRon Avatar

      Not even the end of Prohibition?

      1. Joedon Avatar
        Joedon

        That’s a holiday I could drink to

    2. Matthew Bond Avatar
      Matthew Bond

      Let’s have more holidays.

      1. Ghost Avatar
        Ghost

        One caveat regarding more Federal holidays: The cost to taxpayers for each Federal holiday is estimated to be a half billion dollars, just for the wages of the US government employees that get the day off. Currently they get ten holidays each year. As they say in D.C., “Five billion here and five billion there, and pretty soon you’re talking real money.”
        But with the US budget for FY 2021 proposed to be almost five *trillion* dollars, I suppose that, whether one is fiscally conservative or not, one could make the case that the cost of our Federal holidays is that “rounding error” of which some speak.

  8. TruckerRon Avatar

    Here’s a bedtime tale to think about:
     
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?&v=Nw5KQMXDiM4
     
    It’s from Probably Tomfoolery and is called “The Great Realisation.”
     
    A bed time story of how it started, and why hindsight’s 2020.

  9. Ghost Avatar
    Ghost

    Will there be a contest to re-name the “Eskimo Pie®”? If so, I propose “Indigenous Circumpolar Peoples Pie®”.

    1. David in Granbury Avatar
      David in Granbury

      So, you are saying it would be an i-c-p pie?

  10. Old Bear Avatar
    Old Bear

    Was watching a program – About dinosaurs I think – but they were trying to impress big numbers.
    How long would it take to count to Million if you counted 1 # / sec. –A Billion would take almost
    141 YEARS so a Trillion is beyond my lifetime.

  11. TruckerRon Avatar

    The difference between a million dollars and a billion:
     
    If I gave someone a million dollars and had them spend a thousand dollars per day, it would last them a bit over 3 years. If I gave someone a billion dollars and had them spend a thousand dollars per day, it would last them a bit over 3,000 years.

    1. curmudgeonly ex-professor Avatar
      curmudgeonly ex-professor

      More like 2.74 years, doing some rounding in my head – too lazy to get the calculator out!

      I often tried to explain the magnitude of Avogadro’s Number in terms of counting seconds since the presumed start of life on earth – and how many such sequences it would take to get to that number of seconds. If you want to blow your mind, try it. Avogadro’s Number is about 6.023×10 to the 23rd power.

    2. Donn King Avatar

      I always use this page to help students “experience” the difference between a million dollars, a billion, and a trillion. http://www.pagetutor.com/trillion/

      1. Nancy Kirk in AZ Avatar
        Nancy Kirk in AZ

        This is GOOD, Donn. Thanks.

  12. Library Gal Avatar
    Library Gal

    June 14th is Flag Day. Memorial Day, Flag Day, & July 4th make a nice trilogy honoring military, flag & country.