there is something odd about Memorial Day

There is something very odd about Memorial Day..

I know this is a day late but I always find that Memorial Day is an oddity.  As the unofficial start of summer, it's an excuse to open the pools, sit on the beach and buy a 42" TV on sale.  Now I am not saying the world must end and there are of course a number of parades and other tributes to the soldiers who defend our way of life but it never seems enough.    I remember thinking a few years ago that they should make 9/11 a day off of work to commemorate the day for what it was and to honor the victims and the heroes for their losses and bravery that day.  The reason I thought not to was because like many other holidays like Martin Luther King day, veterans day and memorial day, it would at some point just become a reason to sit out on the patio as you took advantage on a nice Indian Summer day.   I never understood why schools are out for Martin Luther King Day, as the best way to honor him would be to listen to the I have a Dream speech not use it to go skiing.  

BUT with all of that said, what I really don't understand is that knowing this has become a sham holiday, why restaurants don't see it for what it is.   I walked around yesterday and there were many restaurants not offering a Sunday-style brunch.    You can't find a nicer day than yesterday morning when your terrace should be packed with people weary eyed from the night before but instead there were three different restaurants of note that had their doors shut.  Somebody needs to drill it into these small-business owners heads that you have a hungry crowd out there who isn't going to cook for themselves so you better have your doors wide open or your competitors are feasting on their money.

Now if they had stayed closed all day in honor of the veterans that would be one thing but every one of them was open for dinner later that night.