MLK Day

I was just hired full-time at a small but rapidly growing media
company, and guess what? We don't have Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off! I'm kind of ticked at this, not just because I want a 3 day weekend, but I don't like how it's treated as a 2nd-tier holiday. Do most people have to work on Monday? How are you commemorating the holiday?

City schools, post offices, the public libraries, the New York Stock Exchange, and most government offices are closed in observance of Dr. King's birthday. Heck, even alternate side parking is suspended.

Gothamist is sorry that you have to work this Monday, but we're evebn sorrier to point out that you're not alone. Many businesses will remain open in a less-than-fitting tribute to the man who once said, "We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobile rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind."

We once worked for a company that encouraged people to take the day off if they were planning to do at least two hours of volunteer work instead. It led to a virtual shut down of the office anyway, as no one wanted to be the only person who chose feeding the fax machine over feeding the hungry.

If you'd like to find volunteer opportunities near you this weekend, this Monday, and beyond, you can visit Volunteermatch.com. A quick search yielded a "Martin Luther King Day Serve-A-Thon" looking for volunteers to work in soup kitchens throughout the five boroughs. For a broader search, visit the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service web site.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Doug Gordon in Miscellaneous on January 14, 2005 10:40 AM

Comments [rss]

TwentyLou

In my humble opinion, I actually think its a GREAT idea to work and go to school on MLK Day. He preached on how we of different races can live and work with one another, so why not celebrate it by going to work, and not to be stereotypical but, shake the hand of the black co-worker, white co-worker or asian co-worker you know and say, "I'm glad we can work together. Isn't Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. awesome!?

LantaMan

Maybe one should enquire to their future employer to whether they celebrate this holiday,and if not then you could always go find another job.

I mean as long as people arent forced to observe I dont see a problem.

Michael

I don't have the day off but in fact all our clients DO have the day off. We're using the day for organizational meetings, etc. That is so depressing.

Personally, being completely non-religious, I think it's annoying and insensitive that the whole country stops for a Christian holiday but it won't bother noticing a non-exclusionary holiday like MLK Day.

Bootsy

I work for an architect, which is not the kind of person who likes to give ANYONE a day off for ANYTHING, but here, it's just given off to everyone unquestioningly. Rawk on MLK!

Coretta Scott King

My company does not have MLK as a holiday, either. I was kind of p'oed when I found out after I got hired, but the way I see it is that MLK fought and died for me to be able to have a chance to work in corporate America, so either way, it's a testiment to his memory.

KeithS

I love the way my company handles this. We're given the day as a holiday, but if you'd rather come in on MLK day (and about 60% of our office does), you get a floating holiday you can take whenever you'd like. Thanks, employer!

alizinha

For those who do want to remember the man (and have the day off on Monday), I highly recommend the 19th Annual Brooklyn Tribute to MLK, Jr., at BAM.

It's a free event and first-come, first-seated, so be sure to get there with enough time.

hijiki

i actually think about mlk on his holiday... it would be hard to avoid. yeah it feels superficial, but it's better than forgetting. inevitably, the media will air documentaries and interviews. i appreciate the holiday and usually learn something new about mlk each year. whatever that means about taking off work, i dunno.

Pezdro

Sadly alot of companies do this.

This happened to me last year when I worked with a company called LiveTechnology. They basically did this to scale back on the number of holidays given to employees to maximize the time you have people in the office.

They don't consider it to be a traditional holiday so they feel that they can take it away. It's a shame the way that alot of employers are treating employees recently.

S.D.

"either way, people won't remember him."

Sad, but very true. That's why people don't want a Official Day of rememberance for 9/11. Many (Me included) are afraid it will trivialize the event.

Captain Midnight

Come on! Stop being greedy. Everybody already got two holidays in the last three weeks. Another one this soon is just plain ridiculous. No disrespect to Dr. King, but other "second-tier holidays" where many companies don't close have been around a lot longer, like Veteran's Day and Columbus Day. If we absolutely have to add a national holiday, let's do it in March, nicely spaced between New Year and Memorial Day.

And while Tien is right about how people would commemorate the day (or actually wouldn't), that's nothing new. It's the same with almost every holiday. Nobody cares about labor on Labor Day. Few think about our war dead on Memorial Day. Christmas is about gifts, trees and carols, not Christ (and this from a non-religious person). Americans, sad to say, are a superficial lot.

tien

i think given the day off, most people wouldn't choose to remember mlk, but just take it as a day off. either way, people won't remember him.

S.D.

Well, I'm glad My job celebrates that day, but I've found that other companies won't if their clients don't.

It's not that they are being disrepectful, they just don't want to lose a day for a client.

Donnie Jeter

I'm always surprised to hear that some companies don't take a day off on MLK day. As for me, the University I attend does in fact honor the day - to celebrate, I'm going to try to find a podcast of the I have a dream speach (how hipster is that?).