Friday, June 11, 2010

The Magic of Friday

Friday has always been and will always be my favorite day of the week. It does not matter if you have to work weekends or not, Friday is still a great day. As a former waitress and retail salesperson I have worked many weekends and still loved Friday, even when carrying trays of food & drink. This is not a unique to me, it seems almost everyone loves Friday. Proof is in the "status updates" on a certain social network. Lots of TGIF's and "ITS FRIDAY". And then there is always a Thursday post where someone is lamenting because "thought today was Friday...S#!^". So I have been thinking about why is this the case? Friday has just as many minutes as Monday (perhaps the most loathed day of the week). The weather is not guaranteed to be any better on this day than any other. Why the celebration? Why didn't The Cure write a song called Wednesday I'm in Love? (random info. I am currently listening to Friday I'm in Love) Here is my theory for Friday's popularity.

Schools teach Friday love. In my youth it was "Filmstrip Friday". Yes, right from elementary school Friday gets treated special. I can recall may afternoons in my small town school sitting in the dark watching film strips or the reel to reel movies. It did not matter what the subject of the films were, there were always 25+ little faces staring at a screen and one slightly frazzled teacher sitting near the peak of light coming through the shades grading papers. This tradition still exists with DVDs and TV's on carts rolled into classes (or mounted on walls). I have been that slightly frazzled teacher grading papers, and even in that moment the magic of Friday is still strong. It as if Friday adoration is part of the core curriculum in all school districts. The math and reading standards can change but not the reverence for this day.


Its not just sitting watching movies on Friday at school. I also recall popcorn Friday. Where if you brought a quarter in you could get a bag of too salty popcorn served up by some exhausted PTA mom (who was also very glad it was Friday). I am sure in some way this was a fundraiser for the PTA so the kids could get buses for some field trip. This was just one more way to make Friday stand out for kids...teaching us to revere this day.
Certainly, each of you also have some special memory or reason for liking Friday. Maybe its the "payday" aspect, or pizza night, or date night, or the night out with friends. I am sure if you think back far enough you will find that the roots of your Friday love, your TGIF spirit, or whatever you call it, was found in some darkened classroom, or playing on an "extra recess", or eating popcorn, on any given Friday in your youth. Enjoy the magic of Friday.

2 comments:

  1. Fridays rock! Thanks for reminding me that today is magical and not just another day of laundry :)

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  2. Fridays do rule! And you are correct - lots of the 'fun stuff' always happened on Friday. Either movies, fund raisers, assemblies in the gym... Always Friday!

    I think the best part for me was that bed-times were always so much more lax on Friday - the night owl in me always appreciated that fact!

    :)

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