✏️ Legal Pad
How Federal Holidays Actually Work (and Don’t)
Federal holidays sound more powerful than they really are. When Congress designates a day as a federal holiday, what it’s actually doing is telling federal employees when they get the day off. It's an HR scheduling function. That’s it. No nationwide mandate. No legal requirement that state governments close, businesses shut their doors, or the rest of the machines grind to a halt.
Federal courts typically follow the federal holiday calendar, but state courts don’t have to. Private employers certainly don’t. Banks often close because they follow Federal Reserve holidays, not because Congress told them to. And whether you get the day off usually comes down to your employer’s policy, not federal law.
Even deadlines can get tricky. If a filing deadline falls on a federal holiday, federal rules usually push it to the next business day. State rules vary. Some holidays count. Some don’t. Some depend on whether the clerk’s office is actually open. In other words, “It was a holiday” is not always the excuse people think it is.
Here’s your fact of the day: in June of 1870, Congress passed a law establishing four national holidays. Those are traditionally still viewed as the “big” holidays- New Year’s Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day. Now, in typical government bloat fashion, we have 12: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr.'s Birthday, Inauguration Day (every four years following a presidential election), George Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth National Independence Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day.
💡 Sidebar
An Underrated Night Out: Swamp Rabbits Hockey
I’ve been on a big “underrated Greenville” kick recently. Add this one to your list- minor league hockey. It has a charm that big arenas can’t replicate. You’re close to the action. You hear the skates cut the ice, the checks hit the boards, the conversations you probably weren’t meant to hear. The crowd isn’t there to be seen like courtside seats, they’re there because they actually want to watch the game. Or because they have nothing better to do, which is still fine.
It’s fast, physical, and surprisingly affordable. No long lines, no nosebleed seats, no sense that you need to “understand hockey” to enjoy it. You show up, grab a cheap beer, and let the pace take over.
In a city that’s growing quickly, it’s nice to have something that still feels accessible and unpretentious. Swamp Rabbit games aren’t trying to be anything more than what they are- just a bunch of dudes who still like hitting people and chasing a puck.
⚖️ Closing Arguments
I’ve never been particularly sentimental about New Year’s. The countdown, the resolutions, the collective agreement that something meaningful changes at midnight- it’s always felt artificial and geared towards giving people a built-in excuse to put off being better. New Year’s Resolutions are anathema to me because they are the province of the weak. And there’s a reason they say some 80% are canned by February.
Life doesn’t actually move in weeks, months, and years. It moves in objectives. In progress you, and maybe only you, can feel. In skills learned, cases tried, hurdles jumped, setbacks absorbed, and lessons learned the hard way. None of that waits for January 1. None of it resets because the calendar flips.
There’s comfort in clean demarcations, but progress doesn’t care about that. It’s incremental, uneven, and often terrifying. Pressing forward whether you’re ready or not. And if you’re not, too bad. Figure it out or get left behind.
So instead of resolutions, stick with momentum. Instead of fresh starts, steady movements. And instead of worrying about what year it is, focus on where you’re going. Life moves in one direction- forward.
Court is in recess- see you next Friday.
