Weekends

Weekends are always different than weekdays. It doesn't matter when your weekend is. Most people have a weekend that starts Friday evening and ends Sunday night. Others have different days off. It could be Sunday, Monday or Wednesday, Thursday. Working a swing or night shift alters your weekends Some unlucky folks only get a single day off. Work six, off one. 

I have worked all kind of shifts during my career. Nights, days, weekends whatever. You learn to adjust. When working a night shift, some choose to stay on the same routine for weekends but most try to live a normal daytime nighttime couple of days with their family. That usually means you will be off-kilter for the first part of the next workweek. Regardless of your particular workweek/weekend schedule, you will still be influenced by the normal Saturday/Sunday weekend. 

One thing that doesn't change is weekends are still weekends even when you retire. It's not as drastic as during the working years. Friday afternoons are not as joyful or anticipated and Monday mornings are not as painful or dreaded. It becomes even more blurred during the summer when the kids are out of school. 

That doesn't mean weekends are the same as the other five days. Retired folks still have to live in a generally five and two world. Things change on the weekends. Sunday is particularly different. On early Sunday mornings, traffic is almost nonexistent. I have come to love very early Sunday mornings. That is the best time for a long and leisurely bike ride or walk. A time to explore new places even if they are on normally busy roads. Many places are closed completely or they open late and close early. You can't get a drink or buy beer before noon in Texas. This is a remnant of the old religious blue laws and is completely stupid. Why should a bunch of conservative Baptist ministers decide what merchants and consumers do on Sundays? Seems to me it was OK for the Catholic priests and the congregations to drink wine on Sunday mornings. 

Saturdays are a mixed bag. Some places are closed, others reduce hours and are not as busy. Others increase hours and are very busy. Traffic is usually less during the mornings but may actually be worse some places later in the day and night. Friday and Saturday nights always seem more dangerous on the roads. More kids and more drunks behind the wheel. Restaurants are more crowded Friday and Saturday night. Some places that may be relatively quiet during the week are filled with kids and families on the weekends. I'm not complaining, I know the drill and sometimes it's more fun when a place is hopping with kids.

I sometimes forget exactly what day it is, but I can usually tell the difference between weekdays and weekends. Is that from years of conditioning by work or is it because society ebbs and flows differently some days?

It doesn't really matter, this was just some musing by an old guy who has time to muse. 

Do you know what day it is?

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