Some random observations about labor on Labor Day.
Last week, waiting on the train platform, I could not help but notice how many people were staring down at their phones – perhaps already beginning their day of labor. A few looked up and out across the Hudson River to take in the splendid Palisades. I wonder who had a less laborious beginning to their day.
I went to work near Union Square, which was the site for the first Labor Day Parade in 1882.
Thanks to everyone who responded to my ask to like, share, or comment on last week’s newsletter.
It was very generous of you and very much appreciated.
This morning I read this op-ed by David Brooks in the New York Times who makes a compelling case that people are, by and large, more generous than we give them credit for.
He cited a meta analysis of studies that measured people’s propensity to act generously or selfishly in various situations.…
In 1894, Labor Day became an official federal holiday.
The year before a different kind of labor inspired a 26-year-old nurse to become one of the most important social reformers the country has ever known.
Lillian Wald was teaching a homemaking class on the Lower East Side when a little girl burst in begging for someone to help her dying mother. She had struggled in labor before giving birth but was now badly hemorrhaging blood.…
Consider the following:
When we talk about our relationship with work, we often focus on our own satisfaction, work/life balance or lack of meaning in our jobs. In other words we talk about our unhealthy relationship with our own work.…
