Friday, July 1, 2011

National Unemployment Day

The unemployed take the day off on July 1st to celebrate National Unemployment Day.

The call to action is simple: Buy American, create a job, shine a light on the jobless, start an #unemployed Twitter parade, or take an out-of-work person to lunch.

Legend has it that National Unemployment Day was created by two unemployed bloggers - Sue Wolf and Nick La Penna. The two "unemployees" decided that it was useless to search for work so near the 4th of July holiday. So instead the duo took the day off from being unemployed and went to the beach to consume ice cream and booze.

Today the breadline is online. That may be why there is no official recognition of the anniversary. The discouraged workers, the 99ers and those marginally attached to the labor force are mostly invisible. As unemployment numbers continue to fluctuate, the talk from Main Street to Wall Street to the TV Pundits to Pennsylvania Avenue is all about jobs, jobs, and jobs.

“Next to age, weight, and number of previous lovers, unemployment figures may be the most controversial and undercounted stats in the country,” jokes La Penna. 
Posted by Bud Meyers at 11:14 AM
Bud Meyers lives in Las Vegas: Twitter * Facebook * YouTube * Subscribe to Blog * Personal website * Google Plus * * *

3 comments:

  1. Middle MollyJuly 4, 2011 at 4:51 PM

    Hi Bud!

    So I missed National Unemployment Day? Too bad; that's a good one. I do agree that, while online attention to the plight of the still-unemployed or underemployed is important, it also helps to make unemployment invisible. We need more people in the streets making it clear that the problem of unemployment has not yet gone away!

    Following your blog... Good luck!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Dave HowardJuly 9, 2011 at 7:12 AM

    Actually that is not true. National Unemployment Day was created by the Team at Crackpot Press.com

    http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/archive/Celebrate-National-Unemployment-Day.html

    ReplyDelete
  3. Bud MeyersJuly 9, 2011 at 6:34 PM

    Is it so important?

    "The first National Unemployment Day was celebrated in Culver City, Ca in 1997. Karen
    Woodward and David Howard..."
    http://www.crackpotpress.com/crackpot/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=735:national-unemployment-day-is-here&catid=1:latest

    This semi-official holiday started out as a joke in 1997.
    http://www.prweb.com/releases/National-Unemployment-Day/honored-by-iget2work/prweb8590590.htm

    ReplyDelete

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