Labor Day thoughts

Sights and sounds from a Labor Day in Matteson and Park Forest, Illinois...

I ran in a 10-mile race today down on the southern suburb of Park Forest. We decided to make an overnight of it and stayed in a hotel in Matteson last night.

--I realized while staying at the hotel how white the area in which I live is. I'm not often in a situation when I'm in a social setting with members of other ethnic groups and I'm in the minority. The key phrase here is social setting. I'm occasionally in the minority in other instances, but I'm usually in a position of a servant helping others who are poor. I have the label of servant, but, really, I'm still in a position of power. Yesterday in the hotel pool, though, we were swimming with Hispanic and African-American families all simply wanting to have fun with their children. There are Hispanic families who live in Highland Park, but, again, it's rare to be in a social situation with them when we're on fairly equal social ground. What can I do to foster these opportunities?

--We went to Olive Garden last night so I could do a little carbo-loading. About 30 minutes after we sat down, another family sat down, too. He had on running gear and, to be honest, looked African so we assumed he was running in the race, which has become nationally known and draws some international runners. I asked him if he was running, he said he was, and we engaged in some small talk throughout the evening. The next day, we discoverd he was Gilbert Tuhabonye, an American citizen who is from Burundi. He's a top international runner who also had a book written about him and his survival of an incident of genocide. Check out his amazing story at www.gilbertsgazelles.com.

--It was a fun race wih a lot of different musical ensembles along the way, including a string quartet, polka band, church choir, and bagpipes. A little rainy and a little hilly, but a great way to spend Labor Day.

--Speaking of Labor Day, here are a couple ways to honor the day. The first is to go to www.hotelworkersrising.org and learn about the effort to earn better pay and rights for hotel workers. If organizing isn't your thing, here are some things to consider doing the next time you're in a hotel (I got these suggestions from my clergy colleague, Rev. Dr. Marti Scott):
1. The day you check out, strip your own bed(s)
2. Put your used towels on the toilet seat to save the worker from having to bend down too far
3. Tip your housekeeper each day anywhere from $1-$5, more if you're really messy
4. Leave a note of appreciation and, if you're comfortable doing this, tell them you'll pray for them that day.
These are small acts of kindness and compassion that will help a person who does an enormous amount of work for not a lot of pay.