July 3 - Pet Peeve Monday - Exploited Holidays

This week’s Pet Peeve as we head into another the July 4th holiday is the Commercialization and Exploitation of American Holidays.

Every car dealer, furniture store, and department superstore is touting their Fourth of July Blow-Out. Get their Pun?

But it’s not just the anniversary of our independence as a country. Veteran’s Day, Labor Day, and Washington’s Birthday have been marginalized. Don’t get me started on the commerciality of Easter or Christmas.

On Memorial Day, I took my 17-year-old son to Wrigley Field in Chicago to see a baseball game between the Cubs and Reds.

It seemed like a nice touch that they had an Iraq War veteran throw out the first pitch. The soldier had lost his leg in defense of our right to attend baseball games, among other freedoms.

The only problem was that this “first pitch” took place 30 minutes before the real ceremonial first pitch was thrown out. The actual Memorial Day honor was reserved for a true American hero, Vince Vaughn. Vaughn had a new movie coming out and had just survived hand-to-hand combat with Jennifer Anniston. (Pictured below – no picture was available of the Iraq War Veteran.) So enjoy the day off this Tuesday. Enjoy the parade. Enjoy the fireworks. But, remember Furniture Fair is only open till 4 p.m. on July 4th, so get there early and save a lot. As you celebrate that new Early American furniture purchase, let’s not forget that “Early Americans” made it possible.