The word “holiday” means a day off work. A vacation, a rest day. And it seems we have too many free days on our calendar. Take at least the New Year national holidays or the May holidays that have just ended. There is even a stamped phrase in business correspondence – “let’s do it after the holidays.” Because it only appears from the 31st to 1st of the New Year. In reality, somewhere from December 24 to January 15. Yes, and let’s assume the three working days between the two May holidays are not such working days at all.
It is customary to cut a salad, run to the store for new bottles, walk with the whole family, call distant relatives and congratulate, congratulate, congratulate.
And I want to clarify here – are these empty days really? Are they filled with space? And if you look closely, it turns out that our holidays, on the contrary, are a period of stormy and very tiring activity.
First, you need to prepare for the holidays – to solve all business problems that cannot be postponed, because at least try to solve something on the second of May, not to mention the third day of January. It is necessary to make planned, but at the same time impulsive purchases. They are scheduled as you go to the store with an approved list. And it’s impulsive – because something or the other is being sold for a promotion and it would be nice to get that sausage out there, or even something sweet for the kids. For example, this cake.
You need to prepare a table, because someone will definitely come to visit and if you are invited to visit, you need to bring something with you. The children have already eaten the cake.
Secondly, holidays are traditionally a burden on the body. Yes, I know that there are those who take advantage of the purpose of the weekend and go to health centers. But our socio-cultural environment is so arranged that there will be familiar or unfamiliar people who tend to extremes in the evenings. Stop saying no, it’s a vacation! It’s possible today. And I think somehow – but really, vacation is possible and even necessary.
And even against the will of such days comes several dozen a year. And it looks like we’re just resting. The body works at its limit, and it is still unknown what consumes it more – weekdays or such holidays.
Thirdly, the May holidays have a completely unique feature – physical labor. He does not take strange pleasure in dragging their already adult children to the same hut that his childhood parents did not drag into the hut in May.
I remember how I wanted to stay in the city and go for a walk with my friends. But no, the seedlings are already ominously loaded onto the cart, the shovels are sharpened, and the rake in the far shed wants to be used to clear last year’s dry leaves. As you know in May, the day nourishes the whole year. And if you do not plant this potato right away, everything can turn into dire consequences. You’re 15 years old, it’s impossible to understand. What do you think – yes, the store is full of potatoes, they are not very expensive, and most importantly, they are sold all year round. But it is already impossible to explain this to an adult. It is a kind of genetic mechanism – an irresistible craving to work on the world and on it. It is necessary to burn the leaves, it is necessary to dig the beds, it is necessary to sweep the paths, it is necessary to repair the icy water supply that broke in the winter.
And just as the whole family is doing that, the question arises as to whether these weekends are so empty and how justified the etymology of the word “holiday”. After all, on holidays you need to relax, happily make a mess.
This is exactly the hidden meaning of Russian weekends. Any work in the office will look like a vacation compared to the May holidays spent in the country. In reality, our vacation turns into a great act of collective creation. It should be noted that the action is quite soul-saving. Because after evening drinks on May 1, the next morning the person feels an urgent need to make up for his idleness – and then rushes to bed. Without even thinking: What kind of planted tomatoes will they yield? Do potatoes rot on the ground? And are those efforts worth the miserable six kilograms you can collect in the fall? This is all a question whose future is still unknown. And at this time it is necessary to spend the holidays with benefit – to dig everything, clean everything, lay the foundations for future well-being. Or rather, just work.
Here it is important to remember that May 1 is the day of workers’ solidarity. And it seems that even those who do not necessarily see themselves as workers are today in solidarity in beds, in extreme cases, in barbecues. And for a city person, shish kebab organization is also work.
Thus, it turns out that these are not holidays, but real working days, unlike weekdays. With the past May holidays to everyone who worked hard. We continue to work.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.
Source: Gazeta
