"We grind our tails off all year and the gods of holidays bestow upon us one lonely day of reward and respite. One day. Then on Tuesday morning, get the kids to school, commute for a couple hours, commit labor, make dinner, keep it up for a year and don't complain. Thanks, but they can take this holiday and shove it."

Iım not so sure Mr. Myers is being entirely fair in his appraisal. It is Friday afternoon before Labor Day. The Interstate is crowded with folks who have left early for wherever they are going to celebrate the Day. Most will stay too late Monday afternoon before they head for home. With a little imagination we can manage to make this one at least four days and probably stretch it even longer. That is one of the talents of labor.

On the down side, Labor Day is not like any other holiday of the year. Think about it. You are celebrating work; it has neither religious nor family ties. You donıt get any presents and I am not even sure Hallmark has Happy Labor Day cards. It does lend itself to shopping; thus the big Labor Day sales in which honest George and Honest Abe . . . sorry, that is Presidentsı Day. Labor Day really is kind of a loser; it doesnıt even have a big NASCAR race to celebrate the day.

On the other hand, it is all we have between now and Thanksgiving. It really is better than nothing at all. School has been back in session for a week or two, Everyone is settling down to their fall and winter pace of life. This gives us a breathing spell that is needed about this time. There really is no such thing as a bad holiday.

This Sunday would be an especially good time to go to church. There is no better place to get a breathing spell than to hear a good preacher telling you about the good news. Go and relax, especially if the church is air-conditioned. It may be Labor Day but in Texas there is still plenty of hot weather coming along. It is a good time to pray a little Š a lot Š for rain.

The bottom line is simply to make the most of a holiday with not much going for it. At the same time donıt lose sight of its purpose. Hard working dedicated men and women built America. In defining Labor Day the U.S. Department of Labor says: "All other holidays are in a more or less degree connected with conflicts and battles of man's prowess over man, of strife and discord for greed and power, of glories achieved by one nation over another. Labor Day...is devoted to no man, living or dead, to no sect, race, or nation. . . . It constitutes a yearly national tribute to the contributions workers have made to the strength, prosperity, and well-being of our country."