Weekends can occur on any day of the week. Depending on one’s work schedule, a weekend can be on Monday and Tuesday instead of Saturday and Sunday. Although I have had varying days off in my work life, since my time in academia, my weekends have been Saturdays and Sundays. Like most people who work, I cherish my free time, particularly weekends. On the rare occasion when a client demands I work on a weekend, I will do so, but only if there are no other means of accomplishing my work. My weekends are not always fun and games, however. I love fun, including music oriented fun, but there are many weekends when David and I have to help his parents (and before that, my late mother) take care of family business; perform daunting household repairs and chores; do grueling yard work; etc. Instead of grumbling that “I didn’t get a Ph.D. just to work on weekends,” or some other whining commentary, I remind David, and myself, that not all weekends can be fun. There were many times when David and I were in my hometown, Fort Myers, Florida, taking care of my elderly mother, including buying her groceries, repairing her house, trimming her shrubbery, etc. when I had fleeting thoughts of the beautiful Gulf beaches just a short drive away. But, instead of griping about all the work we had to do on Mom’s behalf, I was happy to have her in my life and to be in a position, financially and otherwise, to help her. It’s all in the way one looks at the world. Maybe next weekend I’ll have some fun…
When Melissa and I first met, I worked as a freelance photographer. Then, as today, I worked when there was work to be done. I kept regular office hours Monday to Friday, unless on an assignment, but many of these assignments turned out to be on weekends. Saturdays were often work days – family portraits, and especially weddings, were big assignments and it seems they were always on weekend days. And, I was glad to have those assignments – the weddings were especially rewarding financially. But, Melissa’s weekend/Saturday was “ruined” by my working and being out of sync with her Monday to Friday work cycle. In fact, my desire to avoid working on weekends was one of the reasons I decided to return to grad school and look for a “real” job. I’m not sure I found a “real job” – at least not in the traditional sense. But, now we pursue the non-traditional, entrepreneurial, trial consulting work together. So, at least if our weekend involves work, not fun, we’re usually in it together. Being an business owner means there is more work than can be done in a 40 hour, Monday to Friday kind of way. The solitude of a Saturday afternoon in the office can be much more productive than a day or two in the office. And, then of course, there are times when a mock jury is scheduled on a weekend. Not generally our preference, but if the need is there, we are there. Of course, I’ve been writing about the paying kind of weekend work, and I’m reminded by my stiff and sore body today that other non-fun weekend activities, like 5 hours of tree trimming in 90+ heat and nearly 100% humidity takes its toll on me like never before. I would surely liked to have been in the field with a camera yesterday, or maybe threatening to blast some clay pigeons. But, one takes that kind of work as it comes too. There seems to be no choice…
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