Although most working folks work a lot of days, sometimes having a day off is not an entirely bad thing. I’m not talking about “mental health days”, which I do not recommend if you want to keep that job, but days in which the entire work force is taking off due to holiday or some such similar circumstance. Having a day off is a breath of fresh air. You don’t have to get up early and shave. You can get up late and make coffee, have breakfast, read the paper, take your time, and maybe not shave if you don’t feel like it. In fact, a day off is about not having to do anything you don’t feel like doing. You don’t have to climb into the the hustle and bustle of the mass transit system. You get a break from whatever it is that you do, and you must admit that no matter how much you love your job, sometimes it’s good to have a little break from the routine. You don’t have to be in charge, make decisions, get it done because the office (or whatever) is closed for the day. For a day, time stands still and doesn’t punish you into hitting your marks, sticking to a schedule, making sure that production doesn’t falter. Have a day off is like refilling your tanks–water, gas, air–and starting over. And when your day off falls on a Friday or a Monday your heart just dances with joy. You finally get a chance to break the daily routine and do something different: have a cook out, go to the cabin, fish, ski, have a picnic, visit somebody, go shopping for something other than groceries or underwear. A day off means never having to say you are sorry. Maybe you finally get to try out your new recipe for fish soup? Or you go hiking in the local state park, or maybe you sit by the fire and read a good book as it rains outside. A day off is about the freedom we willingly give up so we can pay our bills, mortgage, car. Perhaps what makes a day off so sweet is that you recuperate the independence that you had as a child to do whatever you want. A day off makes that next Monday morning sweeter still because at least for a moment you were free once again.
