A Case of the Mondays

Every Monday the scene from Office Space pops into my head in which Peter laments the phrase, "Sounds like someone's got a case of the Mondays!" Like Peter, this drives me positively batty. So does any variation of "Thank god it's Friday!" We all have co-workers who never tire of pointing out what day it is. They don't seem to realize that the same day comes around at the same time every week. While you may be grateful that the weekend is nigh after a particularly long and challenging work week, it still doesn't change the fact that Monday is just a few days around the corner. Deal with it.

Not Pictured: Me taking out my frustration with a cricket bat

As I was making use of the facilities today, however, I encountered a co-worker I kind of know, but don't really converse with often. She seems perfectly nice, but so far we haven't struck any common ground in terms of bonding. Bathroom small talk is awkward as it is, but in this situation, you can't just ignore the other person. Naturally there was the "Hi, how are you?" "Great, how are you?" "Just fine." But there's still that extra space of time when you're both not quite finished washing your hands. What do you say? The only thing I could thing of was, "Ugh, it's Monday." I was able to stop myself from becoming the type of person I hate, but I am super uncomfortable with silence. "The wise man speaks because he has something to say. The fool speaks because he has to say something." By this definition, as well as by many others, I am a fool.

This experience has led me to a deeper understanding of those obnoxious co-workers that Peter, myself, and most of the world endure. We're all just trying to fill the silence and sometimes the only guaranteed successful conversation topic is "Monday," "Hump Day," or "Friday." So even though it's trite and cliche, it's something we can all relate to (now that Lost is over, anyway). I suppose I'd rather say TGIF and be a fool than nothing at all and be a snob.