Happy Friday!
I slept like a rock last night. Maybe it was because I opted out of Thursday night yoga at Laughing Lotus with Theodora for wine, bath salts, and a long conversation with my mom via phone instead. In case there was any question, I am 100% human and don’t always feel like working out. When my body screams at me to do other things, like chill out, I have found that it’s often best to listen.
Are you all off today in honor of Good Friday? Our office isn’t closed today due to other holidays we have off but I decided to take a half day since Bo has the day off.
I woke up bright and early to meet Theodora at Uplift Studios for Michelle’s Uplift Strength class. Even though 6:30 is early for a Friday, I swear it is such a fun way to kick off the day!
After the class I dashed home so I could shower before meeting Bo at 71 Irving Place, our favorite neighborhood coffee shop. We spent the next few hours working side by side each other while sipping on delicious, frothy coffees and their yogurt and granola breakfast dish.
Even though I was able to get through a lot of work, including going through and sorting half of the thousand emails in my work inbox, it was so relaxing to work in this atmosphere for a change. After a few hours at Irving, a co-worker and I ended up meeting to work on some projects together and talk through a few things. Not too bad considering it’s only 2pm!
Bo and I are heading uptown to walk through Central Park, check out a few exhibits at The Metropolitan Art Museum, grab a cocktail, and then head downtown for dinner at The Marrow. We’ve wanted to try The Marrow since we read about it on Grubstreet and here about it from many of our other friends.
Discuss: Do you think having a corporate holiday for a religious holiday, such as Good Friday, is an out of date practice?
Not at all. I think for many it is quite helpful. My company is not closed today. But we customarily get a 3pm early dismissal. Even this is helpful for those who are travelling for the holiday to be with family, or those who are preparing to host the holiday at their home.
No, because I think the vast majority of our country observes those holidays. At the same time, yes, largely because I think it’s a bit unfair to people outside of the Christian/Catholic tradition that those are the only religious holidays generally observed. That being said, my office is open today and I wish it wasn’t!
No. Religious holidays do not go out of date, and neither does observing them, no matter the religion. Would you not want a corporate holiday to celebrate Christmas or would you be ok with having to work that day?
I am just curious what others think as it came up twice today in conversations. Thanks for the feedback!
I never really thought about it being outdated since I’ve always had off for Good Friday. I wouldn’t be surprised if in the future there is a movement to have these holidays be more like personal days to accommodate people who don’t observe Christian holidays.
Agreed with Mindy on both counts – that most of the country celebrates these holidays. I think that some sort of acknowledgment that people will be traveling or preparing for the holidays is helpful – and most companies give floating holiday(s), too, to account for other religions’ holidays.
I think it is out of date for holidays that don’t have larger cultural significance, like Christmas. I’ve actually never had Good Friday off, in school or in work. The percentage of people for whom Good Friday is a religiously significant holiday is not the same as it used to be.
With that said, people should always be able to take Good Friday off (or Passover or Holi) without a vacation day penalty, in my opinion. Of course, that’s not fair to the non-religious, so you might get a lot of atheists converting to Judaism or Hinduism to get extra holidays 😉
Curious question: with your schedule filled with work, traveling, and fitness – do you keep up with other people’s blogs? I work full time and have a young daughter at home, so I find it hard to fit in downtime to catch up on the blogs I love. (like yours!) Just wondering when you fit it in 🙂
As an Atheist, I don’t know why so much of the country conforms to the Christian religion and their needs. Most of the “Christians” I know aren’t exactly Christians anyway but say they are so they don’t offend their family. More and more people are “converting” to Atheism, so Good Friday may become an outdated “holiday” sooner than we think. With that said, I’m working today.
I think this is very true and I agree with this, but it’s hard for me to imagine a time when Christmas will not be a vacation day.
The country is becoming more diverse. At our company for 2 or 3 years, we had a vacation day for Chinese New Year (though we have never had the more minor Christian holidays off) and today is a holiday for the University of California at San Francisco, not good Friday, but rather Cesar Chavez day..
I personally like a pool of floating holidays better.
Hmm so Theodora was not involved in the wine and bath salts part? Just checking because that changes the whole night. My previous company never acknowledged today, but D’s did give him a half day.
My company isn’t closed at all for Easter since it’s one of our biggest profit generator days (holidays always are in grocery retail). BUT it is a little more slow since no major changes are allowed (black out for IT dept)
I am actually really surprised that Bo has the day off! He is an investment baker, right? I think it’s kind of awesome actually. Your afternoon sounds simply delightful!
My client was off today, but my company was fully open with no early dismissal. I don’t think companies should give any religious holidays (yes, including Christmas), but instead should provide adequate vacation time so that people can take off when they need to. I do think it’s outdated in the US given that there are SO many religions celebrated today, whereas it once was much more standard. Also, I’d agree with the comments upthread that very few people observe the Good Friday customs – maybe some quietly avoid meat, but I didn’t see almost ANYONE praying at 3pm (the hour of Jesus’ death).
I am currently working with someone who is an Orthodox Jew and he had to use a lot of vacation time to celebrate Passover, but obviously he doesn’t care about getting Christmas off. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get the opportunity to switch; he just has to use vacation to cover the Jewish holidays.
My office closed today at 3:00pm. It was a nice compromise!
For those who are religious and observe the holidays (or are traveling) I think it’s important and also respective of their beliefs. I am Jewish and although most observed holidays are for Christian holidays, I always love having the random day off!
Interesting question… Personally I think it’s somewhat outdated for religious holidays. But I did get the day off and it was nice!
As a Christian I think Easter is more important than Christmas. At Christmastime we celebrate the birth of Christ. During Easter we celebrate Christ’s resurrection from the grave. Most churches offer a Good Friday service to reflect Christ’s death on the cross. I am also a school teacher and have notices a lot of changes in celebrating holidays at school. I have four children from 14 down to 6 years old. My 6 year old has not celebrated any holidays in school at all. It kind of makes me sad because as a kid I loved making Easter baskets and doing the fun stuff. We had Good Friday off but it was considered a non student day. We also had to work 3 previous conference nights in order to take the day off. I’m not sure if there is a right or wrong way. Everyone has opinions. We also allow students to miss school for whatever holidays they may celebrate and it doesn’t hurt them.
I think the school world and the corporate world need to get together and plan better. I feel so sorry for the people I work with who have to figure out what to do when their kids are out of school and we don’t have the holiday. I do not have children, but wind up taking up the slack and not having days off myself because they are taken ahead of time by those with kids. So it’s a lose/lose situation all around.
I am a student now, but for a long time was working in the advertising biz. I am Jewish and absolutely don’t mind having Christian holidays off – hey, it’s a fun random day off for me to relax, have fun and get things done around my house without cutting into my weekend time! But what does frustrate me, similar to what Laura said about her coworker above, is that it’s hard when I had to use my precious PTO time to take off for the Jewish holidays, and was often expected to stay somewhat responsive on email, etc. Now as a student, it is extremely difficult because missing class for the Jewish holidays often holds more consequences than it did when I was working. I miss quizzes, exams and – often times – attendance is factored into our grade! So I get penalized for not being there, even if I’m just missing a lecture. Plus, I miss a lot of valuable material that is covered in the live classroom by our teachers. That said, I still don’t mind having the other days off 🙂