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Pain and leisure

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By Declan Cashin
Saturday Jan 26 2008

I sincerely hope that at this very moment you're propped up in bed reading this article or, at the very least, wrapped in a huge blanket on the sofa with a continuous supply of tea and toast at hand. For that's the only way the weekend papers should be consumed -- lazily, comfortably and at your own leisure.

But I know that there will be a great many of you reading your Weekend magazine in less relaxing environs -- namely, the workplace. If you are one such reader, I salute you, because, for the past few years, I have been a weekend worker myself and I feel your pain only too well.

I don't think I ever fully considered the joys of a full weekend off until I got into a line of work that can't be neatly enclosed in a 9-5, Monday-to-Friday bubble. I enjoyed weekends, certainly, but I guess I just took them for granted.

For instance, I never fully appreciated the freedom to just duck off somewhere for a last-minute break without having to worry about cover, or having to be back for the Sunday shift.

You get used to working at the weekend because you have to, but that doesn't ever make it any easier, even if you like your job. Personally, I always feel a pang whenever I'm listening to radio shows on Fridays and the excited presenters can barely contain their TGIF glee.

Fair enough they, and a lot of their listeners, have worked hard for the past five days, but for some people, Friday is just midweek.

On the plus side, it does test your resolve and dedication to the cause. If you can get up early on a weekend morning for work, when it seems like the rest of the world -- well, the rest of your house at least -- is lying deep in a slumber, then you really are a trooper. In fact, managers across the land, give those workers a raise, post haste!

For me, working on Saturdays is just about tolerable, or so I've convinced myself. I ask, "What am I missing out on really, apart from a lie-in?" Saturday tends to go by in a hectic whirlwind of activity, as you catch up with laundry and housework or dash around town, dodging crowds, in an increasingly stressful bid to get your groceries, and maybe indulge in a bit of conspicuous consumption. It flies by, without any let-up.

If I'm going to be that busy, I might as well be in work.

Sundays, however, are the real killer. A different mood entirely takes hold everywhere, which is probably down to the giant collective hangover that the country wakes to that morning.

Everyone is more chilled out. They stay in bed, have leisurely breakfasts, go for long walks, call their friends, have dinner, or see a movie. I know people who Sky Plus their week's TV viewing and watch it all over Sunday afternoon and evening. Even in these insanely busy times, Sunday seems to be the day when even the most Blackberry-fixated workaholics power down for a while and get some much needed R&R.

That's what makes Sunday working so tough -- so much so, in fact, that even the most decidedly unreligious among us find ourselves thinking, "This is no way to observe the Sabbath. Forgive me Lord!"

What's more, the Sunday working cloud casts a long shadow over your Saturday night too. You always have to be conscious of the next day because going to work is hard enough without the added despair of 'social jet-lag' bringing you down.

How and ever, if you're a weekend worker, the upside usually is that you'll have a day or two off during the week, and that brings its own benefits. You just have to remember not to feel guilty about kicking back when everyone else is running ragged in the rat race.

And with that in mind, if you're only getting round to reading this in bed on a Monday morning, I forbid you from getting up before lunchtime. You know better than anyone that you have to make the most of your 'weekends' whenever you can get them.

declan.cashin@gmail.com

- Declan Cashin