Tradition’s Fine - If It Makes Sense The Fourth Let It Go.

Would you rather have one day off, or three in a row? Would you rather have your staff work four days in a row - or work three days, take a day off and then work one more? DUH.

Forget that the decision to draft a resolution of independence from Great Britain occurred in June 1776. Or that the Continental Congress actually endorsed that resolution and declared independence from Britain on July 2. Or that Continental Congressmen didn’t sign the official copy of the Declaration of Independence until Aug. 2. Or that the path to independence occurred on a continuum and not on a single day.

None of this matters to traditionalists (most of whom are boatless) who insist we must celebrate our independence on July Fourth. They lash out at the thought of changing the day we observe a holiday born from one of the biggest changes in modern history. “What’s next? Thanksgiving? Christmas?,” they yap, yap, yap.

That’s so silly. Only a fool would mess with Christmas. And many people take the Friday after Thanksgiving off to get a four-day weekend. Smarter people offer to work that Friday knowing most of the country has burned a vacation day and won’t be working.

Truly hidebound traditionalists, who consider themselves thoughtful, say we will lose our historical perspective. They think we will forget that Jefferson’s prose was formally adopted by Congress on July the Fourth. Or that Martin Luther King was born on Jan. 15. Or that Abraham Lincoln was born on Feb. 12.

They underestimate the caliber of American history taught throughout the country. They assume patriotism rests on a foundation of dates rather than a thoughtful analysis of history. They underestimate the intelligence of the American public and would deprive them of a long weekend at the lake.

Today, tails are dragging in workplaces around the country because of this obsession with dates. Studies show that most work weeks follow a bell curve - Monday we gear up, Friday we gear down. In between lie our most productive days. Midweek holidays interrupt the natural rhythm of the work week; they replace a productive day with an extra gear-down day and they create unnecessary stress in the workplace.

It’s time to take three on the fourth.

, DataTimes MEMO: For opposing view, see “One date means freedom: July 4”

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