# How important are the holdays.



## Micheal (Jan 28, 2009)

As a retired person and not looking forward to 3 day weekends from your toiling for the man (a job) any longer. How important are these holidays, such as Labor Day, Memorial Day, etc. to you?
Now I'm not including those with a religious or personal meaning; just those that had a "it's party time" meaning when you were working.
Being retired do you look forward to these "holidays"?
Ignore them?
Or is it just another day?

Me, for the most part, it's gotten to the point that it's just another day......


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## Bellyman (Jul 6, 2013)

Hate to say it, but it's generally more of an irritation than a celebration. I don't have any close family that I can only see on holidays. And a lot of my friends are retired. So we tend to do things when everyone else is working. When everyone is off, the roads are more crowded, the restaurants and stores are more crowded, and it's a lot like a little mini tourist season happens. It also tends to be a time when more people are drinking and out and about, which means roadside checks, and an abundance of idiots on display a little more frequently than a typical workday or even a weekend.


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## sisterpine (May 9, 2004)

I must agree. Most of the holidays mean little to me. I do celebrate Veterans Day and try to do something nice for the other vets that I know. Religious holidays are a time for reflection and is 4th of July. I have never been one for parties (read cheap date) and prefer a couple of friends over for a cook out and some good conversation.


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## hunter63 (Jan 4, 2005)

We celebrate family holidays ...Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, birthdays.......but kinda avoid the "tourist holidays, Memorial Day (except for cemetery visits")...4 of July...(dogs hate fireworks), and Labor Day...(working mans last hurrah).......

Retired means everyday is Saturday...except for Sunday (church)....so no rush on celebrating....lots of stuff that we used to eat and drink (can't any more)....
Staying up late means the 10:00 News.


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## Teej (Jan 14, 2012)

Most of the holidays are just another day for us. Animals don't understand we're supposed to have days off and still poop in the barn and expect to be fed no matter what day it is. LOL


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## MELQ (Feb 27, 2011)

holidays are becoming less important to me . I have a big family but more and more I want it to be just celebrating with my husband and kids


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## GTX63 (Dec 13, 2016)

The holidays are all important to me, the actual day they are celebrated or recognized is not. Too many times over the years trying to juggle which side of the family we visit on the actual day and who we see the day before or after. The older I get, the more I value the actual meaning of the 4th of July, Memorial Day, Christmas etc. The commercialism, the drive to please every family member and the rush to get the grill goin and smokin is not even close to a priority anymore.


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## Fishindude (May 19, 2015)

Nice to have the kids, grand kids and other family around. Thanksgiving and Christmas are the best because we usually work in some hunting. Lot's of good eating and drinking too.


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## emdeengee (Apr 20, 2010)

I still really look forward to all these holidays because it is a time when nearly everyone is off and thus you are able to plan get togethers. I think that it does take some deliberate planning and psyching yourself up to it but marking a special day seems to make things more interesting. I remember how special Sundays were when I was a child. Not for religious reasons (although this was important for many) but because it was a day when everyone was off of work and you could have family/friend dinners or outings. I still remember how the world changed once the local bi-laws allowed businesses to be open on Sunday. Definitely not for the better. 

I find it amusing that Labour Day weekend still fills me with a certain amount of anxiety and on the Monday I still feel like I should be getting ready for something. Our school year always started on the day after Labour Day.


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## In The Woods (Apr 27, 2017)

The summer holidays only mean noise to me - city people coming to their camps and making noise.


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## Declan (Jan 18, 2015)

I am partially the man and in my for somebody else job I am classified as half-time which entitles me to nada so basically I already don't get anything. No paid any days. I have to work a certain number of hours per month period. If I take a holiday off I just have to make up the time on another day. Kind of sucks in this regard but I do make major bank for what I do work so pulling down more than the median household income working half time is good enough.


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## In The Woods (Apr 27, 2017)

As for when I was working - I had to work every holiday during most of my working days. My wife would always be home alone on Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. (I was gone overnight for my job - 24 hours working and 24 hours home). I guess after so many years like that it made me numb to any kind of holiday cheer.


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## Shrek (May 1, 2002)

Memorial Day is important to me as a quiet day at home with my flag at half staff until noon until I lower and raise it to full staff as we eat lunch. The other holidays are just days with heavy road traffic to me so If she wants to go somewhere we generally leave a day and a half to 2 days early and return a day or two later to avoid the traffic.

If she doesn't want to go somewhere, we just staycation at her house or mine and do normal things.


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## PrairieClover (Jun 19, 2015)

We don't do much about Labor Day but Memorial Day has always been a soft spot in my heart. When my dad was still alive (WWII Vet) he would go to the town parade with me and my little brood, gave my mom a break. 
Still, we'll have a cookout both of those holidays because we can... but I agree with others, too much drunken traffic and busy-ness on the roads to get out there and try to enjoy crowded places. 
4th of July is one of the best. LOVE this holiday. 
A man told me the other day that Halloween was his favorite holiday because he wasn't required to provide a meal and could have a party and invite anybody and eat lots of candy. 
Columbus Day. It is not a very respected holiday anymore, is it? We used to talk about it, but what is a normal celebration of Columbus Day? Taking the boat out?
Why don't we have Boston Tea Party Day? I guess every day that we don't have our 4 o'clock tea wearing white powdered wigs should be a celebration. (4th of July!)


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## whiterock (Mar 26, 2003)

Out of state son and his family usually come on Holidays. Sometimes Christmas there sometimes here. Usually come Memorial Day weekend for a week. So those Holidays mean something to me. Labor Day and Thanksgiving usually mean somebody around for Dinner. Easter used to be but not so much anymore.
I'm retired but most of my people (friends and family) aren't and I value the chance to get together when possible.


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## vickinell (Oct 10, 2003)

I enjoy the holidays. My family come to my house because I have the largest home. I am looking forward to the day I go to their homes. Occasionally we go to one of my nieces for Thanksgiving or Christmas Day. My oldest granddaughter lives near our historical square, so we go to her house to park to go to parades and special celebrations.


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## krackin (Nov 2, 2014)

I like Monday holidays best. I sleep in till 5 AM and don't feel guilty, if you can call tossing and turning during clock watch sleeping. Most holidays are work days on a farm. Cold weather holidays often end up being road plowing and treatment days. A few years back we had to plow 18" of snow the night before and into early morning of Halloween. I got back to the farm, cleared electric fence and then sold pumpkins. That was really something.


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## pixiedoodle (Sep 24, 2014)

not at all at this stage of life. no big family so not much going on when it involves holidays. don't even care at this age either.


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## dodgesmammaw (Jun 19, 2013)

Someday I am going to get to do the holidays my way. Leave home to travel until all over. I don't enjoy the stress of it all.


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## CountryMom22 (Nov 27, 2014)

We still enjoy all the holidays. Get together with the family for some, watch the parades and cook out. Others, if we aren't doing anything special, we get to get some things done around here so we are ahead for the week to come. Even if we are alone, we find a way to celebrate/observe, even if it isn't the way others would do it.


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## tiffanysgallery (Jan 17, 2015)

Holidays break-up drudgery and gives me time to reflect. After a minute of that, I go into serious vacation mode. Last holiday, I went wild. I splurged on a new pair of sneakers at Walmart, went for a walk at the local park, then jumped into geocashing outside a large cemetery, and from there, I stopped for a rarely bought foundation soda on my way home. I just couldn't help myself, it was a holiday.


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## mnn2501 (Apr 2, 2008)

emdeengee said:


> I remember how special Sundays were when I was a child. Not for religious reasons (although this was important for many) but because it was a day when everyone was off of work and you could have family/friend dinners or outings. I still remember how the world changed once the local bi-laws allowed businesses to be open on Sunday. Definitely not for the better.


I remember that time too. I was a kid, but we always went to family/friends house or had family/friends over Sunday afternoons/evenings. Doesn't happen a lot any more.


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## pointsevenout (Nov 29, 2017)

Never have celebrated holidays except for when I was a young'un. Halloween was the cats meow. That was before candies were spiked and razors were planted in fruits. Now I make sure to stay at home on the major drinking holidays. St. Patrick's day weekend, Forth of July, New Years, Super Bowl. One can be sure the police harrassment force will be out. And I keep myself indoors on celebratory hollidays where gunfire is involved. 'Cause the people that do that are bone headed or drunk enough not to realize that bullets do come down. My only celebrated holidays that I drink if I wish to, is Saturdays when my favorite college football team is playing and any drinking is done at home. Roll Tide! All other times, any drinking is done for medicinal purposes only for pain control when my drug coctail, as prescribed, is not cutting the mustard.

Bottom line, holidays are not a thing to celebrate anymore. I hide from them.


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## Forcast (Apr 15, 2014)

Mine got very small after Dad pasted. He was a huge Christmas guy. I have 4 kids that have inlaws far better well off then me, so the kids go to hoildays with them. It's fine with me. I would cook Thanksgiving Christmas dinner s and found out that they had already eaten. So I stopped. This was the first Thanksgiving that I didnt buy the fixings. And no one even asked if i was cooking dinner. So ill let is pass away. And not worry about Christmas dinner. Gift all shipped. You know I don't feel bad about it at all. The cost of trying to please is not worth a bit of stress. Gkids all got something nice. Shipped,if you haven't mail package of late it sticker shock for sure. X sent a package to gson for his birthday last month the postage was $42. Nuts. Any way Hoildays are just another day for me. Ill hang a door wreath. Put some pine on the table. Not putting up lights or tree. And you know its ok.


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## big rockpile (Feb 24, 2003)

Being in a Tourist Area most time I stay home away from all. Got a KOA across the road and most the time it is ok.

Before it was a Trailer Court mainly for people coming in for fishing in the park. They would come get Firewood around our house or put trash in our dumpster.

big rockpile


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