As I’m sitting here writing this blog entry, it is Monday, Oct. 14–Columbus Day for the American population, and Thanksgiving for Canadians.

Before I came to UND, I probably would have had no clue that today was Thanksgiving for the people to the north of us but living in Grand Forks makes me very aware of this event. Plus with the government shutdown looming large on the minds of many Americans, Columbus Day could be a precursor of what’s to come in the future weeks.

I don’t ever remember having Columbus Day off as a holiday, which is probably because it is a government holiday. Going to a private school meant we had different holidays than the public schools since we were not funded by the government. It was always so annoying. For some reason, it seemed like that always was the day that I needed to go to the post office, or the DMV, or some random government agency that happened to be shut down.

As we enter into the second week of the government shutdown, some of the offices that are closed today have probably been closed for the past week. Others may start closing down if there is nothing done by Congress by the end of the week.

I am not going to pretend to be a political expert or act like I really have any clue what is exactly going on, but I do know that this shutdown is not what the American people want. If more offices are shut down, more funding is cut, more American people are going to be affected by what could turn things into total chaos.

Who knows what will happen in the future with the shutdown, but for now, the government is not taking the “power of the people” idea very seriously.

And, speaking of holidays, is it time for our Thanksgiving yet?