Can This Wait 'Till Thursday?

It does seem that we are working harder today. Now, that’s a good thing for the most part, but still I wonder if our grandparents didn’t do it better.

Growing up in smaller towns like Athens in the 1960s, don’t plan on getting your hair cut or your shoes soled or your teeth drilled on Wednesday afternoon. In the day, there was some sort of unwritten (heck, maybe written) rule that retail establishments and medical professionals took Wednesday after lunch off. 

Imagine that. 

Instead of a long, five-day work week, each seven-day work period was broken up into two little-bitty ones. Taking Wednesday afternoon off for personal recreation or fixin’ things around the house was as natural as going to church. It really was a hump day that reminded us we were that much closer to the weekend. When did all this change?

I have a few theories. 

First, we all got a bit competitive and somebody realized that the hair still needed cutting on Wednesday afternoon and the shirts someone wanted to buy were being unsold if the doors were shut.

Maybe the next  generation grew anxious and wanted that vacation to Jekyll Island and knew that taking an afternoon off might result in fewer dollars in the wallet. 

But if you think about it, if the whole world played by the afternoon-off rule, we’d still get the same number of Villager sweaters and dry-cleaned suits, they would just be purchased in a more confined work schedule.

When Count Raoul rules supreme (still pending), we’re going back to Wednesday afternoon golf and fishin’. Everyone will thank me and you will still have as many things in your closet and as many dollars in your wallet. Maybe more. In fact, we may drop working on Wednesday all together. 

You’re gonna love me for it, I promise. 

Now, you folks getting’ paid by the hour will have to get a modest pay raise, OK?  Same number of hammers sold in a week equals same number of payroll dollars required to sell them. 

I wouldn’t be worrying about your pay, anyway. I’d be worrying about how your gonna spend all that free time.

And guys, don’t be thinkin’ that the wife is gonna be out shopping for unnecessary items during her afternoon off, resulting in a net negative for the old cash flow.  The stores are closed! She’s got nothin’ to do with her afternoon off but fish and cook. Maybe mow the grass.

The more I think about this, the more brilliant it becomes.  Anybody got Jeff Bezos's phone number? 

If we can shut down Amazon.com on Wednesday afternoons we could eventually have full digital, regional, national, global compliance, and the new found affinity for recreation and naps will result in a general upswing in the collective mood. 

Heck, I feel better already.