Why is that holidays – while they’re great for spending time with your family – only serve to sabotage you at work the next day?
In the newspaper business, you have to work at least one day ahead. It’s much better if you can figure out how to schedule things where you’re actually three days ahead in your head and one day ahead on paper.
This was our schedule for the Fourth of July holiday:
Monday: Meet and discuss up coming week. Get plan and assign stories. Do four interviews for Tuesday’s paper and set up three more for Tuesday for Wednesday’s paper.
Tuesday: Meet and discuss the remainder of the week. Go over plan and get progress updates on stories. Do four interviews and then set up more for Wednesday and Thursday’s paper.
Wednesday: More of the same.
Thursday: (And here’s where it gets tricky) Set up interviews for Friday’s paper (because remember, we work a day ahead); more for Saturday and one for Tuesday’s paper.
Friday: Write, write, write, because someone told me I work hard enough I can have Monday off.
If I’m confused about what day it is when you ask me, now you know why.
And when we show back up on Tuesday, it seems like everyone (outside of the newspaper office) is still on Monday time, meaning no one really knows what’s going on until after they’ve settled in, had a bit of coffee and gotten everything straight in their mind.
It’s kind of exhausting for everyone involved and really makes me think why we even bother with holidays. And after this latest one at the Nelson house, I’m happy to report that no one got burnt with a sparkler, suffered a broken bone or caught anything on fire.
We did, however, enjoy copious amounts of watermelon, some wonderful fried pork chops and an overabundance of fireworks, compliments of Betty’s Best Bang in Florala.
And, it was worth it to see the looks of joy on my children’s faces as the miniscule explosions lit the night sky and to hear their squeals of delight as they hosed themselves with the water hose while jumping on the trampoline.
Come to think of it, I still have quite a few vacation days left on the books.
I made it through this day-after and the week-before, I think I might could do it again.
Oh, I get it now. That’s why we do holidays – it’s called sacrificing for our children.