By request from one of my closest friends, Artie, I think I will write about Columbus Day today.  For those of you who are not aware, I have a tendency to be opinionated about certain holidays and like to get my thoughts out on the blog.

Secondly, it may appear I have abandoned the blog, which could not be further from the truth; SullivanKreiss, MorganSullivan, and Networking For A Cause have been consuming much of my time.  Yes, I know, only three and I let this slip.

Last, but not least, before I start my official entry, I would like to call out to Townie, Coley, Joey as well (in addition to their significant others).  In all fairness, these four in addition to Artie (yes, I realize my four best friends are all an ‘ie or ‘y and I am not) spark a lot of the topics I cover in the blog, and encourage me to write as well.  Somehow they know my love for controversy and not-so-popular opinionated articles.  These are the four people who I know will always stick by me, understand my severe self-diagnosed Adult ADD when I do not call for weeks, pick up the phone when I call (most times…), and most importantly support all of my wild and harebrained ideas.

Ok, enough of the sentimental crap.

So, today is Columbus Day.  Most of the United States may be reading this at work, but for those people who celebrate the Day as a national holiday I say kudos.

Kudos? 

Yes.  Kudos to those people who have recognized that Columbus was on a sail boat and was a man.  Kudos to those people who have no clue that he landed in the Bahamas and who still confuse Columbus with the Pilgrims.  I wonder if Jay Leno will ask people on the street about this day – I do wish I could stay up late enough to watch it.  If anybody catches the show – please let me know.

For those of you who do not know much about Columbus Day, and are smart enough to know what you don’t know, let’s take a look at what wikipedia has to say:

The first Columbus Day celebration was held in 1792, when New York City celebrated the 300th anniversary of his landing in the New World. In 1892, President Benjamin Harrison called upon the people of the United States to celebrate Columbus Day on the 400th anniversary of the event……..

Since 1971, the holiday has been commemorated in the U.S. on the second Monday in October, the same day as Thanksgiving in neighboring Canada. It is generally observed today by banks, the bond market, the U.S. Postal Service and other federal agencies, most state government offices, and many school districts; however, most businesses and stock exchanges remain open.

If you look further into this day, you will find out an interesting fact about Hawaii, you know, that island that we all dream about:  They do not officially honor Columbus Day, rather they celebrate Discover’s Day in honor of James Cook who was the first to record the location of Hawaii.

Really? 

Somebody should tell Hawaii that Puerto Rico is celebrating the holiday.  Kudos to PR for trying to “fit in” with the US; my opinion of that state, I mean US territory, has changed a bit.

Now that we know a bit about the history, which really told us nothing, let’s open the dialogue.  To be honest, I am not really sure where I stand on this Holiday and am going to write out my thoughts (this may become a long point-counterpoint with myself) until I come up with a conclusion.

First off, I am grateful for the exploration of Christopher Columbus (and modern day Spain for commissioning Columbus and his crew), probably only grateful that he landed in what is a very popular vacation spot rather than finding his way to India.  Did you know that was his primary objective on this mission, was to find an easier direct route to India for trading?

Being somebody who does believe in “everything for a reason” and “being there at the right time”, I wonder what America, or the United States – funny how must of us refer to the US as America, and forget Canada, Mexico, and South America – would be today without this accident?

However, why are select industries closed and some are open?  I don’t receive any mail today because Postal Workers have the day off (actually, considering my mail is either junk or bills, this might be a good day); I cannot deposit my coins that I spent way too much time rolling, because the Bank is closed; I would need to find child care because schools are closed. 

I was recently embarrassed (this does not happen very often) when I was talking to a good friend of mine in India.  He had asked me how long the United States had been independent (India was celebrating their Independence Day at the time), and I could not answer; the year for US was 1776.  So, I propose we all take the day off on Columbus Day and spend the day learning about our history.  Read up on who, what, where, when, why, and how the United States was started, how we grew, how we became independent, and how this affected the rest of the world.  I think you would all be surprised, and open your understanding to a lot of the reasons why our Government and policies are formed the way they are.  You do not have to agree (another good thing about the US), but I do think you should know the why behind it.

Well, I think I finally realized my opinion.  Shockingly, I support the day with a few minor changes.