what did you do over the weekend?

I have the Monday morning blues. This not because I hate coming to work. I love work. I am not saying this just because my blog is read by a number of my colleagues. I am saying this because I really love my work and because it is possible that my boss might read this. And also because I have heard that people get fired for obiter dicta on their blogs concerning their workplace. However, that is not the point. The point is that I am an excellent hard working employee who deserves a very big raise.

I hate Mondays because it is time again for the "what did you do over the weekend?" question to float around the office. This happens every single Monday. However, I am yet to hear any response to this question that is actually worth hearing. It merely elicits a whole bunch of stock in trade responses like Ate, Slept the whole day man, Met a friend, Saw a movie. Whatever. It is the same thing over and over again every single Monday. Is any of this really interesting to anybody?

So many times I see two people pass each other and say the following
“Hey, how was the weekend?”
“Good”
Let us study this conversational gem for a second. What does it really tell us? Are the two people in this conv in any way better off for having had it? Did bloke A find out more about bloke B as a result of it? Vice versa? What has really happened here? If this is merely a prelude to an interesting and meaningful discussion, it is all very well. However, I am beginning to notice that a number of people are indulging more and more in just this little nugget. Of course, we cannot simply walk past our colleagues. But, surely, the usual “Hello” that we use from Tuesday to Friday will amply meet the case.

Let's face it, if anyone does something extraordinary during the weekend, or out of it, they will talk about it. They need not be questioned and probed. So, why can't we just stop this ridiculous line of discussion? The only good that can come of it is that it diverts airtime away from other potentially maddening conversational subjects. Like sun signs. But, that rant is a whole new post altogether.