The way of Life called “Week-end”

week•end (w-k-nd' )

noun

The end of the week, especially the period from Friday evening through Sunday evening.

This is the dictionary meaning of the word ‘week-end’. But for how many of us it’s just this..?? In the corporate world, week-end is not just the end of week. It’s rejuvenation time, time for a long ride, time to read newspaper, it’s time to go home, time to talk to your own family, time to get a haircut, time to attend CAT/GMAT coaching classes, time to play, sleep, shop, have sex and what not..?? To put it simply, weekend, for most of us, has become a way of life.

The corporate weekend theorem states that “The expression on software engineer’s face on a Monday morning and a Friday evening is never identical”. Monday through Friday, we think of the weekend, dream of it and wait for it. When it actually arrives, we start thinking of Monday’s work and spoil it. I’ve seen my friends switching off their mobile phones over the weekend just because of the fear of receiving a call from their managers. Once I myself bluffed my boss about a weekend outing plan to avoid Sunday work and spent the entire weekend in trepidation of being spotted by colleagues.

Initially, I used to find it really funny when my friends at workplace said “Happy Weekend”. Oh dear lord.. Happy Weekend..??? It sounded weird. But now, things have changed and I’m a part of the system. The “Happy weekend” robotically comes out of my mouth on a Friday evening, with a one hundred percent fake, moron smile on my face. But somewhere deep inside, it makes me sad to think of the fact that I’m no more a fun loving guy who had the endearing flair for mimicry and a cracking sense of humor to make people laugh. Today, I’m just a decaying corporate employee marooned in the mediocrity, slogging in office as well as traffic jams for hours together.

What a paradox. Have you ever wondered why a Government employee never wishes their colleagues a ‘Happy Week-end? We’re so much accustomed and habituated to reach deadline (I hate this ‘holy word’) that we forget everything that was supposed to be done on a weekday; we keep everything for the weekend. Almost everything. Well, I don’t want to talk about how to get rid of your intellectual rubbish, how to spend more time with your family and such nonsense crap. Just open your mailbox and you’ll find 100s of such shitty lectures over there.

But just think of it. When we retire and look through our life’s rear view mirrors, nobody will recall how many lines you’ve coded in a project or how many bugs you have found in a release. You are remembered for the silly things you did, a stupid PJ that you cracked or a team outing that was fun filled. So just stop being a workaholic and think of a way to laugh and make others laugh too.

By the way, my company has declared a holiday on Monday too. So I’m freed from this week’s installment of Monday blues. I wish you all, a loooooong, Happy, happy weekend…!!!!

P.S: This post is an outcome of getting choked in my office shuttle, on a Friday evening, in the middle of a 2 hour long traffic jam and my friend who couldn’t bear it, got out and said HAPPY WEEKEND..!!!