Friday Sickness

Occurrence: every Friday

Symptoms: bored to death, drowsiness, brain-dead, always looking on the wall clock, low morale

Findings: There’s an epidemic gripping the country. Each Friday, the population of most classes, and offices, would be drastically halved. People would disappear mysteriously, only to reappear in the most random of places like their homes, malls, or beer joints scattered across the country.

Bosses and teachers are baffled at the sudden drop in attendance. “Wala naman sakit si *****, ano sya, may Friday Sickness?”. And so we have the name of the disease: the Friday sickness.

Usually referring to absences that fall on a Friday, the Friday sickness seizes people with only one or two matters to attend, those who fear their superiors, and people who are beckoned by the sheer fun of pagtambay. In short, the lazy people.

I am one of them.

As I write this, it’s (surprise, surprise) Friday and once more the stealthy claws of Friday sickness are taking me by the wrists. A soft voice entices to me to make a permanent detour to Intrepid Court, where they have a nice 5+1 (if you share my vices, you’ll know what this is) promo over at Eastwood City. Besides, I have no deadline to meet.

One. Measly. Work. Sorry, ma’am, but I’d rather appreciate the beauty of the math equation 5+1=6.

See how easy it is to succumb to the sickness?

There’s that magical quality about Friday. It’s the gateway to two beautiful days of rest (for normal students and some employees, that is, not those with hellish schedules and night duties). You can practically smell the freedom that Friday brings with it. The seconds left until dismissal are golden, teasing you until you just can’t stand the waiting.

Unless, of course, you give in to the temptation and cut class or file an undertime altogether. As my ex-seminarian friend once said, “Lord, lead me not into temptation, but then again, Thy will be done.”

At school, for the teachers, it’s a continuous struggle to keep the students coming when the week is about to end. There would always be lessons that wait for no student, infected with Friday sickness or not.

Attendance though, is not the only concern.  “A person’s habitual absence is a question of respect. If the person respects the superior, he/she will attend to his responsibility.”

Apparently, the Friday sickness is something that is known to both students/employee and teachers/bosses. The first are not the only ones afflicted with the Friday sickness. The itch may strike even some of the latter themselves. I’ve known a professor who skips his last class to celebrate the weekend. As ridiculous as it seem, even senators have Friday sickness!

If this is the case, then I’m alarmed. I’m alarmed about my apparent lack of discipline as well as that of others. If the Friday sickness becomes a habit, then we, might carry this for a lifetime. What would happen then? If the Friday sickness is an actual disease, we would have had cancer by now.

Disclaimer! – I managed to gather myself up, and drag my feet to come to office in spite of the bad “bed weather” today. AAGHH! I miss my bed.

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