The concept of taking a day off has transformed over the decades -
and over the centuries in fact - from a rare aristocratic privilege or a religious duty into a heavily negotiated modern workplace benefit.
In Ancient Rome, citizens observed market days (nundinae) and public religious festivals. Imperial China’s Han Dynasty granted officials a rest day every five days (xiu-mu) for washing and family.
For centuries in the West, the primary structured "day off" was Sunday, pushed by Sabbatarians who argued for abstaining from labor on the holy day, which later expanded as factories adjusted for diverse religious practices.
The 18th and 19th centuries stripped away traditional agricultural rhythms. Factory workers, including children, routinely labored 12 to 16 hours a day, six or seven days a week.
Henry Ford institutionalized the 40-hour, 5-day workweek across his auto plants in 1926, finding that extra leisure time actually stabilized and boosted worker output, a model codified into U.S. law by the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.
Take the day off. Chill - or do something with your family. Forget about watching football or Barney Miller reruns. Take the clan out to a late lunch or early dinner, and then fire up the fire pit, pop yourself a cold one, and enjoy the rest of your day.
No matter what you do, you never want to waste a day off.
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I grew up here on the farm and we had livestock. Day off? Not likely. Chores before church on Sunday and before school during the school year and work of some kind with crops or painting buildings or repairing something on most Sunday afternoons and after school and Saturdays.
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