The average employee is happy to get any break they can, except of course for some of those with big families because you all know how tough it is to get through a public holiday when everyone’s eyeing your wallet. No wonder many can’t wait to get back to work the following day to ‘escape’ the demands at home. You don’ know how long 24 hours is until you spend all day and night with the family, literally. The wife wants money for her pedicure and hairdressing appointment, the children want ice-cream, the maid wants “transport” to go visit her own family and the man who delivers milk every morning takes this opportunity to ask for his long overdue payment since you conveniently leave before he drops by on workdays, so it’s understandable that some people dread these Public Holidays. A couple of my male colleagues have mentioned time and again how they’d much rather be out making money than take the day off. Personally, I don’t mind Public Holidays per se, except when they’re right at the beginning of the month for obvious reasons. Salaries get delayed and my plans are derailed and I don’t like that. Other than that, I’m happy to get off work mid week. Wait, there’s one other con. Unlike those who’re eager to get back into the work routine, I kind of dread waking up the next morning. It’s like walking up a hill. You’re so tired you can’t just run down the slope even though it actually is less strenuous than the steep climb. Mid-week breaks take a toll on me in the sense that I have a tendency to put things off on the pretext that I will do them on the day off and then it becomes too much and I’m just as tired spending the day at home as I am after a regular workday. Well to be honest, I usually sleep in and say wake up at 10:00am and spend the next twenty or so minutes deciding what to wear or do with my hair. At the same time, I want to catch up with my favourite shows because I suddenly realize that the weekend is too far away and two or three episodes in, I remember that I have lots of laundry to do on top of cleaning around the house by which time I am hungry and need to prepare something. In between all those chores, my neighbors’ kids want to play board games and by the time I’m done with all that, it’s dark and the clock is ticking to the next work day. The thought in itself is exhausting. I can only imagine what my party-loving colleagues go through. Nursing a hangover mid-week must be tough. I think we need a day off after the Public Holiday. Kind of like Easter Monday or Boxing Day after Christmas. The problem for procrastinators like myself is that even if that were to happen, we’d still push whatever needed to be done to that extra holiday!
