Scripture tells us that Jesus ascended into heaven forty days after his resurrection on Easter Day.
Clearly this is cause for a public holiday so that all God-fearing folk can celebrate in their own traditional way (i.e by going to garden centres or out-of-town DIY superstores). However, Ascension Day falls invariably on a Thursday, being forty days after Easter Sunday. Thus we get a day off on the Thursday, back to work on the Friday and then the weekend.
I mean, what’s the big significance of ’forty days’ anyway? Would it really have hurt to have waited forty four? That way, Ascension Day would fall on a Monday and we could all have had a long weekend along with the rest of the civilised world. All it would have taken is a little forward planning. Or maybe there was a time restriction on the return flight.
’Intelligent design’? I think not.
Footnote:
Bank workers are clearly a devout lot. Why else would they have managed to negotiate themselves an extra day off today, if not so as to have an extra day in which to complete their religious devotions? Thus all banks in the land are closed from Wednesday evening right through to Monday morning whereas most shops are only closed on the Thursday.
Mind you, it's probably not such a bad thing. That's two fewer days in which the banks can fuck up the economy.
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4 comments:
We get Monday off and I intend to enjoy every last minute of it. So the UK is good for some things at the moment it is hard to find many redeeming features over here.
Have a great weekend both of you.
Suze: With all it's faults, I'd rather be in UK than here!
Enjoy your Bank Holiday, even though we seem to have pinched your good weather!
Only banks get bank holidays here. We did get Monday off for Memorial Day. Another American holiday that's supposed to be meaningful but just ends up being another excuse to eat and get drunk! LOL I guess as long as we raise a glass to the soldiers who gave their lives for our benefit it's alright.
Nitebyrd: We get Thursday, Friday and Monday at Easter, plus Ascension Day, Whitsun, National Day of Prayer and Constitution Day all in the space of Six weeks. Plus the more left-leaning take an unofficial day off on May 1st. Everybody knows it makes no sense to have all the public holidays bunched together but nobody seems to be able to take the initiative and chancge it.
There are moves to possibly shift one of the holidays to later in the year and dedcate it to Army veterans, especially as this country has suffered heavy casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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