Skip to Content
Opinion

Start Your Labor Day Weekend Off Right With This Friday Open Thread

Let's talk about work! Or let's not!

9:17 AM CDT on September 1, 2023

How we put Racket together every day

|Arron Choi via Unsplash

We're taking Labor Day off here at Racket and we hope you've got the opportunity to do the same. But before we all go our separate ways, we wanted to use this week's open thread to talk about (sorry!) work.

So this week's prompt is labor related. What was your first job? Your worst job? Your weirdest? What do you do now?

Since it's only fair that I answer those questions myself, here goes. I was a paper boy as a kid, but my first regular job was at a Roy Rogers, a fast food chain I don't think they have out here. My worst? I left my job as music editor at City Pages in 2001 to edit the review section for the new music mag Blender in New York—and got canned after a month. My weirdest was probably working in a warehouse using a labeling machine to seal bags of potpourri.

And this, of course, is what I do now.

Anyway, feel free to chat about any of this, your Labor Day plans, or anything else that crosses your mind. And see ya next Tuesday.

More Stories

On the Big Screen This Week: TCFF, Creepy Tech Sociopaths, and Masturbating Nuns

Pretty much all the movies you can catch in the Twin Cities this week.

October 15, 2026

‘Pro-Choice’ Michele Tafoya Thinks Minnesota Should Limit Abortion Rights

Plus another council-mayor clash in Mpls, local rocker needs brain surgery, and we're doomed in today's Flyover news roundup.

October 14, 2026

Ex-NYC Mayor Eric Adams Promised to Pitch a Wisconsin Data Center With ‘Rigor.’ His Failure Was Spectacular.

New York City-based media outlet Hell Gate went to Wisconsin Rapids to trace the footsteps of Adams, whose 'sneaky' plan to build community trust imploded in spectacular fashion.

Do Twin Cities Food Content Creators Have a ‘Disclosure Issue’?

The law requires influencers to disclose when they receive money or free meals from restaurants. As for whether they do…

October 14, 2026

Hero Clams Keep Minnesota’s Drinking Water Safe

Plus an Iron Range elementary school goes on a book banning spree, award-winning young adult novel 'Hatchet' get's a movie deal, and more about that fire on Franklin in today's Flyover news roundup.

Easily the Most Marsalises I’ve Ever Listed in Your Complete Concert Calendar: October 13-19

Pretty much all the music you can catch in the Twin Cities this week.

October 13, 2026