Thank God It's... Tuesday?

"Everybody's working for the weekend,

Everybody wants a little romance.

Everybody's goin' off the deep end,

Everybody needs a second chance."

- Loverboy, Working for the Weekend

Ah, Friday night.  That most magical of times of the week, when the workday trickles to a close and you find yourself footloose and fancy free for two whole days.  Maybe you'll catch up with some friends, or engage in some hobbies, or do some work around the house... or just sleep.  The weekend is your oyster!

Unless, of course, you are a zookeeper.  Then the world is an oyster for your visitors, and you are probably on shucking duty.

It's always baffled me.  Lots of people work the weekends.  Retail employees.  Police and firefighters.  Hospital staff.  And yet it still seems to confuse so many of my friends (well, the ones that I have left due to my work schedule) that I... work... on... Saturday... and... Sunday.  It's like, every week it comes as a fresh surprise.  It shouldn't.  First of all, animals need care, regardless of the day.  If the animals are going to need me to come in and feed and clean up after them on Christmas, or during a Category Five hurricane, they sure as heck aren't going to give me a break just because it's Saturday.

Secondly, weekends are when many families like to get together for bonding, recreational activities... like going to the zoo... where I work.  As a result, the weekends are quite busy.

There is a lot to be said, however, for having week days off.  It's great going to the grocery store when no one else is there.  If you don't mind going to the movies by yourself, you can catch a matinee and have a theater virtually to yourself.  For my favorite past time - going to other zoos and aquariums - there's no better time to go than in the middle of the work week, especially if it's not field trip season.   I've gotten to explore a new zoo in complete silence - just the animals, the staff (who are probably wondering who this weirdo is by himself on some random Tuesday), and me.

The best of both worlds, of course, is what many zoos do for managers.  Half will get Friday and Saturday off, the others will get Sunday and Monday.  That way, everyone splits the chaotic weekends and gets one day off with friends or family, and one day to themselves.

The worst of every world is what I had to deal with at one employer where I'm pretty sure my boss would get drunk, put on a blindfold, and throw darts at the calendar every week to determine who was on and who was off for what days each week.

There's going to come a time, especially if I settle down and start a family, where having Saturday and Sunday off every week will be extremely desirable.   It'll be great to be off when everyone else is, and to be able to count on being off for holidays and the like.  I certainly won't miss the Saturday morning crowds at the zoo, yanking children off of fences and yelling at glass-bangers all day. 

I might, however, miss those lazy Tuesday and Wednesday mornings, when everyone else got to be the sucker with a job, and only I had a little taste of freedom.