It feels like every day is now ‘National Something Day’ or ‘International Something Else Day’. I’m getting a bit sick of them all, truth be told. Japan in particular is notorious for these days. We’ve not long missed Japan’s Strawberry Day (January 15th), so named because 1 (ichi) and 5 (g0) together in Japanese sound like ‘strawberry’ (ichigo). I love strawberries, but I think I’ll pass on the twee sound-a-like rationale.
January 28th is set to be the UK’s National Fun At Work Day, and the 29th is International Have Fun At Work Day.
Ye gods. Where do you want me to start?
(In fact, I’ll tell you where I’ll start. I looked for a royalty-free image to use as the header of this post, using the keywords ‘work fun’. Zero results. Obviously.)
Here’s what this national day signals to me: work is so unfun that we need a designated day on which to enjoy it. And there can only be one of those days per year. After that, it’s back to your desks.
That’s the kind of negative attitude we reserve solely for Mondays, isn’t it?
Suggestions for ‘Fun At Work Day’ include wearing something silly, listening to loud music, and getting up to ‘office-based mischief’. Sure, those sound like great ideas. If you want to get fired. You can’t use the day as an excuse to act up if your boss isn’t marking the occasion. And why would they? Blasting 90s pop while you cover your colleague’s desk in glitter isn’t a productive use of your time. If you think it is, you need to reconsider your life choices.
Moving on… the international day is on a Friday this year. I don’t think that’s a coincidence. I know plenty of people who don’t mind being at work on a Friday, because the weekend’s imminent and it’s our unofficial ‘Tolerate Being At Work Day’. Everyone’s celebrating on the inside anyway.
While work may not be a bed of roses all the time, this is taking it to the other extreme. If you need a special day of the year to enjoy a day at work, you need a new job.
