Got this and one other post coming your way here on Christmas Eve before we all depart for a few days to enjoy the holidays. We’ll re-assemble this Friday when the Blackhawks hit the ice in Buffalo.
Whatever you’re going to celebrate, however you’re going to celebrate it, we all hope it’s a great one. Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all of you from all of us here at Second City Hockey. Thanks for hanging out on our little corner of the internet.
Now, to the very important matters ahead of us: let’s rank the seven days of the week for Christmas to arrive on the calendar:
#1: Thursday
Pretty much a guaranteed four-day weekend for two straight weeks to end the year. Do some people have to work on Dec. 26 and on the following Jan. 2? Sure. Does anything get accomplished those Fridays? Fuck no! We’re all still on vacation! Plus Christmas Eve is always a half-assed day, along with New Year’s Eve. That’s a whole lotta time to not work at the end of the calendar. Always the best.
#2: Friday
Similarly good, but this is probably more of a couple three-and-a-half day weekends as opposed to a couple of four-day weekends. Still pretty good, but perhaps not quite as great as the first one.
#3: Wednesday
Christmas feels like it’s on a bit of an island when it’s in the middle of the week, such as it is here in the year of our lord and savior Marian Hossa, 2024. Having the mid-week holiday does offer the possibility of saving a couple of PTO days to make this a true two weeks off but there’s a start-and-stop nature to the flow of festivities with this week that can be trickier to manage.
#4: Tuesday
All of the benefits of Thursday as detailed above, but the primary issue here comes when the new year arrives and you’re staring back to work on Wednesday, Jan. 2 and have to actually work for three days before the next weekend arrives. That work is in the rearview mirror when Christmas (and New Year’s Day) is on Thursday, hence Tuesday falling down to No. 4 here.
#5: Monday
This does guarantee back-to-back three-day weekends but, much like Tuesday, there are a couple of longer work weeks mixed in after both Christmas and New Year’s Day that drop this a bit on the list.
#6: Saturday
Better than the one at the bottom of the list because it at least cuts Friday short a bit and Sunday is there as a recovery day. But this holiday falling on the weekend robs us all of a much-deserved day or two without work.
#7: Sunday
And that’s what makes Christmas being on Sunday such a bummer. Yeah, some places will “observe” the holiday on Dec. 26, but you and I know damn well that your bosses are going to try and get you out to work on that Monday anyway. And for those who are trying to manage multiple holiday celebrations, that weekend before is awfully far from Christmas and the weekend after has a different holiday on it. Just tough all around.