UNITED STATES—There is something that has bugged me for years, and I can’t seem to get the answer from anyone. This Sunday marks the official kick-off to spring if you ask many people because Easter has arrived, but just why isn’t Easter really considered a holiday.
This comes from the perspective of those of us who work. While most businesses are open on Easter Sunday, there are quite a few that are not open, hence, those companies that actually care about their employees spending time with their families on the holidays.
For as long as I have worked, I have never received holiday pay for working on Easter Sunday. I could never understand why this is, it is a holiday right, well the powers that be consider it a religious holiday and because of that it technically isn’t a holiday.
Yes, it’s confusing, Christmas is a religious holiday, but I guess because we don’t really celebrate it that way, it differs from Easter how? Families get together to have meals, we celebrate Easter baskets and the Easter bunny; most businesses close their doors early.
I guess to some degree Easter is a holier day than most holidays during the 365 days we have in the year. I mean it’s the only time of year that I know people who NEVER go to church seem to find a way to church this Sunday.
Some people would call it hypocrisy, and I used to think that way simply because so many people would go to church praising change, but as soon as service ended they were back to their old, corrupt ways. It was like seeing two sides of a coin; the good side which only emerges when everyone is looking and the bad side, which emerges when the spotlight is no longer be shunned.
Easter is one of those days that I no longer even consider a holiday because it seems to be celebrated with brevity that I can’t explain. You know it’s a holiday, but at times it doesn’t quite feel like a holiday. For those of us who work, we might get off work a little early, but it’s not like we’re capturing extra money to work this vastly celebrated day in the year.
I’m not sure if this is a policy that will ever change, but I don’t know a single person who works or who has worked, collect holiday pay on Easter. Am I advocating for this to change? Yes, because Easter is indeed a national holiday isn’t it or am I missing something? We have the Fourth of July, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year, all holidays where I’ve always collected holiday pay for.
That Easter just seems to be that one holiday that doesn’t fall within that category. If Easter isn’t an actual holiday, than why do we celebrate it as being one? It’s a question that has plenty of people talking, and it will likely be debated for years to come.
