I’m not sure when it happened, but Friday has become the superstar of the days of the week.
In people’s hearts and minds it has gone from being an above average day to one deserving of holiday status.
I mean, if the days of the week were entered into a beauty contest, Friday would be the clear winner. Sunday would be runner up, Saturday would be Miss Congeniality, and Monday would be the contestant everyone hates.
Although Friday is now really coming into its own, I don’t mean to suggest that it was ever a nothing day like, say, Tuesday. Hey, TGIF, right? How many days have a restaurant named after them?
OK there is Ruby Tuesday, but that’s named after the song, not the day. And in recorded history I don’t believe anyone has ever said Thank God It’s Tuesday. No, the best thing that can be said about Tuesday is that at least it’s not Monday.
The preoccupation, bordering on an obsession with Friday, is really evident in the workplace. At work, everything revolves around, and everything is related back to Friday.
You pass someone in the hall:
“How’s it going?”
“It’s Friday.”
Or:
“How’s it going?”
“Tomorrow’s Friday,” or “two days until Friday,” or “I’m never going to make it to Friday?”
The only day you don’t get a Friday response is on a Monday. But this is because no one cares to ask “How’s it going?” on a Monday.
Some people credit Friday’s elevated status to its being pay day. Perhaps, but Friday was also usually the day they fired you. But maybe that was just me.
Friday is also the beginning of the weekend, unless you are still in your drinking years, which means Thursday is the beginning of the weekend and Friday is more like a fuzzy Saturday morning.
So why Friday?
Because everyone is working harder, and longer hours, and is under more stress. People are the “less” with which companies are doing “more.”
Friday isn’t a day as much as it is a release point. The work week is over: “Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.” OK, maybe that’s a bit melodramatic, but you know the feeling.
When you punch out on a Friday, you punch into your real life.