There was once time when the weekend in NZ was a time when one could relax; that is if you didn’t include family chores and various other responsibilities, but that was, that it was time away from work.
Sadly, things have changed for many people, probably not just in NZ. Gone for many are the sleep-ins, leisurely breakfasts, picnics and BBQs at the beach, reading a book (no Kindles then), watching your kids playing rugby, visiting your favourite Aunt (because she did all of her own baking), talking to your neighbour over the back fence (do you even know your neighbour’s name?), going shopping before the shops closed for the weekend at mid-day, sending the kids off to the matinee at the cinema (knowing that they were quite safe to go alone), cooking the Sunday roast (the leftovers would go into a curry the next day) and finally, once the lawns were mowed, you could actually do—well--- NOTHING.
Now, the chances of a family being together, (I don’t mean the marriage---that’s another issue) for the weekend are greatly diminished. At least one partner will be working; even teenage kids may have a job. Some families will of course be together, because neither parent has a job. For them, it may feel like a sentence, because they will have little in the way of ‘discretionary’ spending.
For others, it maybe that working in the weekend is a requirement, in order for the company they work for to keep a hold on the niche they have managed to find in the larger world they now do business with.
It is not a ‘Brave New World;’ it is more a Cruel new economic-driven reality world.’ We have changed because we have had to and we have lost much as a result.
For me, I can hardly remember when my partner last had a clear weekend off. What’s next-----schools joining the move for a seven day week?
Thanks for reading the musings of a sentimental guy trying to remember what he thinks the world used to be like.
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