The Three Day Weekend Debate

Three day weekends are nice. You get an extra day off, and a shorter week at work. So whose idea was it that the extra day off should be on a Monday?


Very few people would say that Monday is their favorite day of the week. It’s the first day of the work week, the first day after a break from work, and there are four more days stretching out after it before the next break. It’s got that “sigh, back to work” feeling that stays with you all day and every daydream you have is about next weekend.


You’ll find quite a few people whose favorite day is Friday. It’s the first day before a two day break. Depending on what time you stop working, the rest of the day can be treated like the weekend, because you know you don’t have to get up early to get to work the next day. It has that “WOO, PARTY!” feeling that stays with you all day and every daydream you have is about all the awesome stuff you’re gonna do during the weekend.


A week that is shaved down to four days because of a three day weekend just transfers the feelings of a Friday or Monday to the closest work day.


If Friday is the day off, the feelings of elation that you’d normally have that day are pushed forward into Thursday. If the weekend claims Monday, all those feelings of drudgery are held off until Tuesday.


My proposal is that we have three day weekends with the extra day taking place on Friday. A Friday off not only means that the week is shorter but that you can start celebrating the end of the week earlier. You’re still going to have a Monday feeling on Tuesday if Monday is your day off, so why put off that feeling? If Friday is your day off, you get to have the “IT’S THE WEEKEND” feeling earlier.

I’m not sure where exactly I should go to start the “Move Labor Day to Friday” movement, but I certainly can’t do it today.


It’s a day off.