Although it's a national holiday, Columbus Day doesn't get much respect. In many places, kids don't even get a day off from school. Its main observation seems to consist of the suspension of mail delivery. One of 10 federal holidays, Columbus Day marks the anniversary of the great Genoese explorer's bumping into what is now the Bahamas, on Oct. 12, 1492 (Julian calendar reckoning). But a lot of modern Americans are ambivalent about the man and his accomplishment.
