Labor
Yesterday was Labor Day, a national holiday. Many businesses were closed, as the intention is to celebrate the “working man.” This is ironic. Those who labor behind the scenes, stocking the shelves, sorting records, expediting those customer orders flowing into Amazon warehouses across the country, — orders promised for next day delivery… Those who labor with their hands are typically under paid and over worked. “Short staffed” is the term. The equation balances. No one easily chooses to exhaust 
themselves in return for less than they need to sustain themselves.
Ottowa Illinois, was the site for the first of seven Lincoln and Douglass debates. There is a very large bolder in the park marking the place where the men stood. The Ottowa debate took place on August 21st of 1858. Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglass held forth in the presence of ten to twelve thousand people, standing room only. Douglass, the incumbent Senator charged Lincoln with trying to “abolitionize” the Whig and Democratic Parties. I do not think it is possible to imagine 19th century America when thousands were held in servitude on Southern plantations. A slave is a human tool, “worked to death.” Clearly the seven Lincoln and Douglass debates were about labor issues.
While in Ottowa for Labor Day we dined at the Lone Buffalo brew pub, which is owned by the Tangled Roots Brewing Company. Our server was Zoe. She indicted that she had waited tables at the Lone Buffalo for five years. Her energy, the professionalism was appreciated. She helped make our visit to Ottowa, Illinois a pleasant memory.
Cheers to Zoe, and a A+ grade to her employer, Tangled Roots Brewing.
