Breakfast Club: September 4, 2018

breakfast club

the east bay's running newsletter 

Sunset over Lake Michigan.  Photo: Crosby Freeman.

Good afternoon!

As I write this on Labor Day, I've spent a lot of time this week thinking about work and its place in the economy.  

Most outdoor-oriented outlets celebrate Labor Day as an Instagram-worthy celebration of summer’s end—a day off from work to be spent in consumerist leisure, or running in the hills, or drinking beer, or racing a half marathon and then drinking beer.  Or just buying stuff.

But I think this content is shit.  So, I’m not going to write about it. 

If you have actually worked in the outdoor industry, you know damn well that Labor Day is no holiday.  It is a banner day for retail sales. 

When I worked full time at running stores and cycling shops, Labor Day was a grind.  It meant waking up painfully early to get in your run because the store had extended hours for the big sale.  It meant balancing six running-shoe boxes in your arms to help fit middle-class people for …