Put away the white shoes. Move the seersucker to the back of the closet. It's Labor Day -- the beginning of the fall season (even if it's still way too hot.) And while you're busy shopping the sales or cooking out or whatever you do with this holiday, give a thought for all the hard-working folks who do the dirty work, for all the minimum wage workers who work long hours and still need welfare, indeed, for all the workers who DON'T get the day off. Tip big. Say thank you. Stop to consider, before you complain, just how little control the person you're annoyed with has over the situation. Take the time to think about how many people are working behind the scenes to support your lifestyle -- to bring utilities to your home, to keep your vehicle or public transport running, to manufacture the goods you consume and grow the food you eat. Just at the moment I'm really grateful to the guys who made it up our narrow steep road to pump out our septic tank for the first time in thirty-something years. A good way to begin the fall season, since I have no white shoes . . . or seersucker.
