Unlike the Americans, however, the British do not glorify their holidays with patriotic or reverential titles like President’s Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Veterans Day, or Thanksgiving Day. Instead, they just refer to almost all of them as Bank Holidays.
(This curious designation probably came about as an unwitting homage to British mercantilism. Nevertheless, the official line is that it dates back to 1871, when national obsession with the game of cricket led to the Bank Holidays Act – to give bank employees a few extra days off each year to play and watch matches.)
At any rate, “Easter Monday” seems to be the most ambivalent of all British holidays. After all, it has a reverential title but no discernible relevance to Jesus Christ (like Good Friday or Christmas). But perhaps even the British had qualms about appending a “bank holiday” to the holiest weekend on the Christian calendar.
Whatever the case, as a young boy, this was always my favorite bank holiday. Not just because it was the first bona fide beach holiday of the year, but also because it helped me recover from the trauma of wallowing in the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Especially since all of the hosannas heralding His resurrection on Easter Sunday provided little therapy.
Meanwhile, with beaches like the ones shown here, one wonders why the British did not leave us with many more bank holidays….
Related sites:
Plan your vacation to The Bahamas
Plan your vacation to the Turks & Caicos Islands
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