Hunley column: This Labor Day, be grateful you have a job

I was about to grouse about having to work today while seemingly everyone else is off, then I remembered something:

Lots of people are off today, tomorrow, the next day and the next, etc., etc.

They’re not on vacation. They’re out of work. People in my business, people in your business, people in every kind of business.

From CEOs to peons, no one has seemed safe from the recession. You don’t have to be an economist to see that.

The national unemployment rate is 9.7 percent. The figure is a bit better in Virginia, 6.9 percent.

But that still ain’t good, obviously.

I would like to tell you that I’ve been on the front lines of trying to help people return to the work force, that I’m doing all I can to help my fellow man.

But, honestly, with state elections less than two months away, the jobs I’ve been focused on lately are those of politicians.

The other position I’ve been thinking about is that of Redskins quarterback. Yours truly has spent an inordinate amount of time worrying about who would be the team’s third-string signal-caller.

We ’Skins fans are notoriously obsessive, so even the QB most likely not to play is a frequent topic of conversation.

So when last year’s third-stringer was injured, this writer was aghast that his competitor for the job, Chase Daniel, wasn’t immediately coronated. Instead, he was cut from the team.

Now, keeping tabs on politicians is part of my job. And because I spend way too much on Redskins tickets, my freakish scrutiny of the team is probably OK.

What really should be of concern, however, is the continued employment of regular folk.

All of the politicians I know will be fine regardless of their elections’ outcome. Ditto for Daniel. He signed with the New Orleans Saints.

But in a statement about today, U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis mentioned those who don’t necessarily make headlines.

“We should all think about those families struggling during this Labor Day,” she said, “and I’d like to suggest that we use this day not as a day ‘off’ but a day ‘on.’”

She said the day could be used to “mentor a young person, or volunteer at a veterans center or maybe help a friend looking for a job.”

Most people probably won’t do any of those things today, though they’re all laudable ideas.

What we all can do, though, is be grateful for what we have, and keep those in mind who may be struggling.

That’s certainly not too much work on Labor Day.

Jonathan Hunley is a staff writer at the News & Messenger. Contact him at 703-369-5738 or at jhunley@insidenova.com.