The Most Dreaded Day of the Week

With each Monday, most of us try to wrap our minds around the start of a new week.

Whether we are students or professionals in the work force, Monday is often the most dreaded day of the week. No matter how hard we try, Monday always arrives without fail.

Monday really gets a bum wrap because of where it falls in the scheme of things during the week. If our workweek began on Wednesdays then few people would despite Monday as much. Likewise, if Monday were the last day of the workweek then people would welcome it rather than curse it.

After spending more than two decades working full time in the newspaper business Monday was truly a day to wish away. It was always my worst day of the week in terms of workload. No matter how much I worked to avoid it, Monday simply seemed to be more than I could tolerate.

In my final months working full-time in the newspaper business, Monday really became a curse. No matter how long I worked on the Sunday before, Monday was going to be at least a 14-hour day. I couldn’t avoid it.

I’m not going to pretend that I was the only one working that much. In addition, the work I was doing was not of a physical nature. However, I can assure you I was certainly mentally drained by the time I got home Monday evenings.

The bad part was Tuesday was often nearly as bad. In the company I worked for, Tuesday was our big productive day where we worked to put the paper together. Once again, no matter how long I worked on the Sunday and Monday prior, Tuesday was going to be an uphill battle.

Each fall, I counted down the days until Friday. Being able to go to a high school football game on Friday nights became my reward for making it through another week. Of course, by the time I walked into the stadium on Friday afternoon I was usually so drained that it became difficult to enjoy the game, despite the fact high school football is a time-honored tradition for me.

The people who work to bring you this paper each week no doubt understand what I’m talking about. Similar to any profession, those who don’t work in it can’t possibly understand the amount of work it takes. That’s why each time I see a new edition of The Monticello News I certainly appreciate the amount of work that went into it. I’ve been there and know the long hours that went getting it ready for the readers to enjoy.

While I don’t work the same number of hours on Mondays at my new job, there is no denying that I still don’t welcome the first day of the workweek with a parade complete with balloons and confetti.

To be honest, I’ve never had much use for Monday. Give me Friday and I’ll be happy. In fact, give me Saturday and I’ll be even happier.

Monticello native Chris Bridges is a long-time newspaper columnist. He welcomes readers of The Monticello News at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.