Labor Day. Say Thank You.

It’s labor day. Nee-woll-ah*

“Labor! Oh, the problem of labor in India is gargantuan.” Auntie Mame**

Most of us have the day off, although there are plenty of people working to ensure you have important things like food, healthcare, safety, and we can’t forget school clothes and a shot at winning big in craps.

I live in Las Vegas, and right now, there are tens-of-thousands of people working on the Strip making sure our visitors have good food, a clean room and a constant flow of cold drinks while cold hard cash the guests earned is going into machines. Most return home with a good experience, and some return with extra cash.

I like the people who work in the casinos. The ones who are cleaning rooms, serving food and dealing your blackjack hand. They are the labor force that is bringing in the dough.

No matter which city you’re in, the workers are doing their jobs. Today. On a holiday.

Many are thrilled to be working and earning, hopefully, just a little more than they need.

So say thank you. Leave a tip – and just a little more than 15 or 20 percent if you can afford it.

**The line above is from Auntie Mame; a book, a play, and then a movie that starred Rosalind Russell. My favorite actress.

*Nee-woll-ah comes from the movie classic Picnic, with William Holden and Kim Novak. - which Rosalind Russell was also in. To me, that is the quintessential movie about Labor Day. End of Summer. Desperation. Change.

And an awesome scene delivered near the end of the movie by Ms. Russell, where she, as Rosemary the spinster teacher, is begging Howard (played so well by Arthur O’Connell) to marry her. It was done in one take. I couldn’t find the scene on YouTube. Just watch the movie.

Have a wonderful autumn!