This Bank Holiday my high school classmate Iggy Pop is playing some gig at Clapham Common. Wish i were there.

Er, the bank holiday was the 24th Pal.

OK i wish i had been there - thanks for the update - was thinking coincided with our Labor Day this weekend

Why would it?

Ummm - the <b>August</b> Bank Holiday should coincide w/ a US holiday in September?? :-&quot;

Typical yank - thinks the world revolves around the USA.

Yes England should coincide its Bank Holidays to comport to our Labor Day - hopefully David Cameron will adjust it all. I was of course thinking of the last weekend in August, which i thought was Bank Holiday and not the next to last weekend in August.

Janis - what will you be doing on Labour Day? Going up to Marin County?

&quot;<i>I was of course thinking of the last weekend in August</i>&quot; More Ummm

August Bank Holiday is the last Monday in August. Labor Day is the first Monday in Sept - can see how they might be confused. Not.

(Marin isn't &quot;up&quot; from here. Maybe for some, maps are as difficult as calendars? )

anyway Janis thanks for the correction and happy Labor Day.

WTF is a &quot;Labour Day&quot; anyway. Smells of communism to me.

Britain is about the only country not having a Labo(u)r Day - don't celebrate May 1 like the rest of the industrial world - right mate? (Or USA finds the socialist origins of May 1 an anathema so we have Labor Day instead.

First Monday in May is our bank holiday equiv. We give it the very boring name of 'Early May Bank Holiday' though. Really. That's its official name. Sad isn't it.

The Netherlands doesn't have a Labour day or anything resembling it.
Also if a public holiday falls on a Saturday or Sunday here it's tough - you don't get the Monday off instead.
A couple of years ago it was awful with Christmas, New Year and Koninginnedag all falling in the weekends. Since the only other days we have off are Easter Monday, Ascension Day and Whit Monday it was a miserable year
Our next public holiday is Christmas Day, our last was Whit Monday (May 12th).
Have a great Labour Day, I shall be celebrating 33 years of marriage that day.

Well sincerely congrats to you, both of you - especially your husband for putting up with so much for 33 years!

IME in Holland many folk don't even work on Monday mornings ever - stores may not open - and that's why i thought Sunday nights were such a big pub night

I guess i waz wrong

Thankyou PalenQ - shall pass on you best wished to the other half shortly. He deserves a medal for putting up with me.

Some smaller shops are shut on a Monday morning, but that is to make up for working Saturday and koopavond (Thursday or Friday late night opening). Usually the shops that still do this are run by a small staff, often by family.
It used to happen in the UK too - Wednesday was always early closing in my home town before the 24/7 culture struck.
I hate that term (24/7) by the way!.