Everything about The Weekend totally explained
The
weekend is a part of the
week lasting one or two days in which most paid workers don't work. This is a time for
leisure and
recreation, and/or for
religious activities.
In historically
Christian countries and East Asia the weekend typically covers
Friday,
Saturday and
Sunday, while in
Muslim countries it's
Thursday and
Friday or
Friday and
Saturday. In
Israel, the weekend is Friday and Saturday. Sometimes the preceding work day is considered part of the weekend.
History
The notion of a weekly rest is ancient. The
Jewish Sabbath, known as
Shabbat, is from sunset
Friday to when it's fully dark on
Saturday. Sunday has traditionally been viewed as a Christian Sabbath, though not all Christians acknowledge it as such.
The weekend as a time of leisure is a rather modern invention. Before the
industrial revolution the wage labour force was a minuscule fraction of the population. The day of the Sabbath was viewed as one dedicated to God, not one of relaxation, and strict prohibitions on permissible activities were enacted.
The
French Revolutionary Calendar allowed
decadi, one out of ten days, as a leisure day.
The early industrial period in Europe saw a six-day
work week with only Sunday off, but some workers had no days off at all. The
labour and workers rights movements and campaigns by
trade unionists in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century saw a five day work week introduced as Saturday became a day of rest and relaxation.
This movement began in
England. In several languages, the word for weekend is an adaptation of
weekend or the term "
English week" is used for the five-days
work week.
Economic impact
In many ways this has been a great boon to the economy as it led to a great increase in consumer spending on Saturdays as a restaurant visit, motorcar journey, or a trip to the movies became standard Saturday fare. Many jurisdictions continued to enforce strict
blue laws on Sunday which meant that most recreations, such as stores and theatres, were forced to close on that day. These regulations began to weaken in the years after the
Second World War and Sunday also became a day of recreation for many.
In recent years the weekend has begun to fade in importance. While most people work a five day work week, when the hardware costs outweigh human costs, the competitiveness of the modern economy means that leaving a
factory idle or an office unmanned for two days is of too great expense. Thus many workers regularly work during weekends. Since this is seen as a greater burden most employers pay extra for weekend work, either by agreement or by legislation, or else give time off midweek.
There is still great variability in many areas between the workweek and weekend. Stores that are reliant on office workers will see far less business on a weekend, while those in the
suburbs or in residential areas will see far more. Since weekends are days where people can safely sleep in and also not have to worry as much about the ill effects of a
hangover, Friday and Saturday nights are the busiest for bars, restaurants, clubs, and
cinemas. There is substantially less activity on many
websites during weekends.
Weekends for students
For most students, the weekend means that they're free for 3 days, as schools usually don't have classes on the weekend. However, some
boarding school students are required to attend classes for at least a half day on Saturdays. Some colleges also offer courses that meet on Saturday and Sunday. Many colleges and universities afford students the opportunity to choose classes scheduled Monday/Wednesday and Tuesday/Thursday, giving the students an extra weekend day on Friday. Many college students take advantage of this trend and go out to bars and nightclubs on Thursday nights leading to the phrase "Thursday is the new Friday." Also, in some cases there are school holidays or national-nationwide holidays in which public school and/or rarely some boarding schools don't have classes and the students are free to relax and have spare time.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Weekend'.
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