Holiday? What Holiday?

I'm kinda embarrassed to admit this because I have two uncles -- one deceased, one still alive -- who were veterans of the US Army Forces but yesterday was Veteran's Day.

In a way, I shouldn't be embarrassed. It wasn't exactly emphasized in most of the local media, and most libraries and local businesses didn't even seem to be acknowledging it. Indeed, if I hadn't gone to the Post Office and read the little sign on the door announcing that it was closed that day for Veteran's Day, I wouldn't have realized it myself.

Perhaps if I had picked up a newspaper or spent more time on the Internet--like I really need to spend more time on the Internet -- I might have realized it before then but I didn't.

So why does this matter? Because lately it seems like all official holidays except those holidays which people can make money off of -- for example, Christmas and Halloween -- get ignored in similar fashion. And it's depressing to see how nobody ever complains about this.

I suspect all but a few senior citizens have noticed the change in emphasis on these holidays and that -- worse yet -- all but a few senior citizens really care that such holidays have been de-emphasized. Nobody seems to bother closing businesses in honor of these days although many of the same people who ignore this are quick to complain about how we Americans are not quite as reverent toward our traditions as we were in the good old days.

Oh, well. I hate to think that when Veteran's Day was founded to honor our brave men in uniform, the founders had US Postal workers in mind. But what else am I supposed to think?

That honoring our fallen isn't worth doing if we can't make a buck off of it?

I hope not. And yes, it seems like I'm making quite a fuss about one holiday, but I've noticed a similar trend last Memorial Day. Apparently things aren't changing for the better.