Holiday Plans

Monday, February 17, 2025

On this Presidents’ Day, I choose not to dwell on the holiday’s intended meaning, as its significance is bound to shift dramatically in the future. What has changed is our growing helplessness as citizens while our new leaders openly disregard long-held principles of upholding the Constitution and respecting the Rule of Law. These seismic shifts in leadership, both in America and across the globe, carry profoundly unsettling implications for the world.

Instead, I’ll focus locally on the here-and-now happenings. Later this week, I’ll gather with friends for a classic American dinner—hamburgers, fries, and cold beers. We will share our experiences and perspectives, trusting each other in a way that feels increasingly rare.

I work part-time in retail, and customers checking out often share brief and telling remarks about the changes unfolding around us. Many express concern over the relentless rise in prices for food and essentials, the shifting climate, growing threats to natural resources, and the unsettling possibilities of more widespread conflict on the horizon.

Unfortunately, because of today’s pressing realities, I can’t entirely ignore Presidents’ Day. At work, I will ask customers how they’ve previously viewed this holiday and how they may be seeing it now.

Dear Friends: Many will respond verbally, some with just subtle, tense reactions. Diana