Monday 2 April 2018

An Easter Monday Tale.

I worked for many years in my brother in laws office.  It was small and quiet and I loved the work for the most part.  Because the office was small and quiet, there were only so many people that you got to know and for all those working years only so many good stories to tell.

One of my favourites is Easter Monday.  My boss, my brother in law and I grew up in the same small prairie town.  We were raised in a very traditional church, in that very small town and school was populated by all but a handful of kids of the same faith.  Some of the things you are left with don't carry on to the rest of the world.  Easter Monday is one such thing.

Easter Monday was a school holiday in our town. Most of the businesses were closed as well.  Easter Monday was a thing.  The idea that Easter Monday was a holiday stayed, burned deep into our thinking.  In the rest of the world Easter Monday is not a thing.

Early one very quiet Easter Monday morning somewhere about the middle of my time working in the office, I was up, chatting over our respective Easters with Marg at front reception and my boss came from the back of the building to open the front door. He was shocked to see both Marg and I there.  He said, 'but it's Easter Monday'  You aren't supposed to work today.'  Marg and I were flummoxed because it was just a normal work day.  The boss was quite determined that we go home and take our holiday.  Marg and I looked dubiously at this and weren't very willing to go, but he insisted.  

So we went home and we each had a wonderful surprise to us day off. 

When we got back the next day, I was up having my coffee break, chatting with Marg, and the boss came by and told us of his day.

The phones rang off the hook.  The mail came.  All kinds of people came and went.  It was a usual Monday.  He was so very, very happy to see us and just a little sheepish about his Easter Monday mixup. He said he didn't get anything done because he spent most of the day doing our jobs.  Didn't even go out for lunch because it was too busy.  Every year after we laughed about that come Easter Monday.

And it never, ever happened again.  And all these years later, it still makes me laugh on Easter Monday. 



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