offcntr | Labor Day (Reply)

I never know quite how to handle Labor Day. On the one hand, I definitely grew up working class, farm family in Wisconsin. I've done my share of crap jobs, including a summer stint at garment factory as hot and sweaty as any New England mill. I even have a union card somewhere, from two years in the Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation, the teaching assistants union from my MFA years.

On the other hand, I've been self-employed since 1998. Off Center Ceramics' labor pool is about 80% me--my wife Denise helps with loading and unloading kilns, and shares booth responsibilities at art shows--but I make up 100% of the management.

So I'm both ruthless oppressor and beleaguered proletariat.

So do I take the day off for Labor Day in solidarity with my fellow workers, or force myself to work long hours on the assembly line like a captain of industry?

In the end, I did both. Threw fifty pounds of clay into tall mugs and stew mugs in the morning, then went for a bike ride with Denise to a local park in the afternoon. Had brats and watermelon for supper, then went back into the studio to throw another fifty pounds of dinner plates.

Ultimately, holidays and structured time off don't mean a lot when self-employed, since, excepting Saturday, which is always Saturday Market, I can decide for myself what's a work day and what's not. I spent all yesterday in the kitchen with Denise, coring apples and pears, drying fruit and cooking sauce. Today I needed to catch up with my throwing.

Happy Labor Day!