“Morning,
“Hey—it’s a Monday!”
“uh…okay.”
At a party some months ago, a stranger, who happens to work at the same (troubled) financial institution as me, noted that within our company the day of the week is frequently offered as a sole response to “how’s it going,” “how are you,” or even “good morning.”
I’d never noticed this, but afterwards, I couldn’t avoid it. He was right—everybody said it. Some people even did so aggressively. I’m thinking of that older female security guard (you know the one) who verbally assaults you every time you walk in the West Entrance with “Happy Monday!” Or “Happy Wednesday!” She then sits back in her swivel chair and smiles smugly as if she’s gotten away with something. The woman brutally and preemptively attacks every visitor with the day of the week every day. Frankly, I find it unsettling and avoid her when possible—to the extreme of using the South Entrance. There. I’ve said it.
Granted, most people are more casual and nonchalant with their usage of the days of the week, but no less promiscuous. “Hey, Eileen. How’s everything?” “Well, it’s a Thursday!” Then she just looks at you like that means something. And while it may be a Thursday if Eileen says so—she’s usually right about these things—I don’t see what this has to do with anything. Is Thursday good? Bad? On a scale of Monday to Friday, would you rate it a ‘four’? I confess, the semiotics of the transaction elude me. What is inherently “Thursday” about a Thursday? “Why is this night different from all other nights?” Hey—It’s a Thursday!
Monday I’ll almost accept and certainly Friday. The TGIF-nature of the last day of the work week is well-attested in the literature. Fridays are different. To a lesser extent, but similarly, Mondays are special. Rainy Days and Mondays Always Get Me Down and so on. Come to think of it, I recall that Saturday Night’s Alright for Fighting and of course, “there's something in a Sunday that makes a body feel alone.” But here’s the thing, we don’t work on the weekends, and don’t generally see people from work on the weekends. There’s nothing about a Tuesday that makes a body feel any which way in particular.
For these reasons, and for many others, I insist on avoiding the day-of-the-week-trap-of-irrelevance. When someone asks me how I’m doing, I respond, “Fine. And you?”