The View From Saturday

Sometimes two words can change your day.

Some years ago, I came slogging in to work on a dark, rainy Saturday. My mood was as black as the sky. Generally I didn't mind working Saturdays but that day I'd had to miss an event that my group did every year.

Zillions of Americans work "non-traditional" hours. However, artistic/cultural events are still built around the assumption that most people work day hours, M-F. If you play in a band, sing or are in community theater, having to work evenings and weekends on a regular basis can nip a lot of opportunities in the bud. Since most social events such as weddings and reunions happen on weekends, it's possible to exhaust vacation days just by requesting a Saturday here & there.

I was feeling cranky about missing the performance and resigned to having a lo-o-ong day. Then something amazing happened. The manager called us together for a quick pre-opening meeting, and thanked us for coming in. He said he realized that it can be hard to work on Saturdays even when the weather isn't miserable, and that he appreciated the hard work we'd be doing that day.

I'd never been thanked for coming in to work before. I suppose it could be considered icing on the cake; if you have a job, you're just expected to show up no matter what. But just knowing that at least one person knew how hard we worked and appreciated our efforts lifted our spirits.

Since that time I've acquired a schedule that's friendlier towards rehearsals and gigs, but I learned that day that a simple thank you can make an enormous difference to someone who's feeling overworked, stressed or sad. If I end up doing errands during the weekend - grocery shopping, filling the tank, ordering something by phone - I try to remember to thank the person across the counter or at the other end of the line. She might be missing out on something important, such as a child's ball game or recital, in order to provide a service that makes my own weekend run smoothly.

And even if it's just another Saturday for her, a thank you will make an already-good day better.