My, my, how time flies. Labor Day once again? Time to celebrate our labor with a day of idleness. The medievals would not be pleased. For them, labor and idleness–ahem, I mean Labour and Idleness–were mortal enemies squabbling over the soul of Everyman.* Or, at the least, standing around being all symbolic while the soul of Everyman** sauntered by. Like so:
That’s Labour in the center of the panel futzing around with a net, with Idleness on the right, holding a lure. Now, I know Idleness looks more appealing, what with her long flowing tresses and her seriously Jessica Rabbit-esque physique, and yes, Labour sort of resembles Cathy*** (titular hero of the soon-to-be-ended comic strip), but this is your immortal soul we’re talking about here. Show some restraint!
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*As I’ve said before, the medievals never met an abstract concept they couldn’t personify as a woman.
**OK, so technically that’s “the Pilgrim” on the left, and not “Everyman,” but he’s basically the same thing. From Le Pelerinage de la vie humaine.
**You’ve seen this Andy Samberg/Justin Timberlake/Jessica Biel sketch from Weekend Update a few years back, right?
It’s basically that.