A Day Off = Procrastination
We live in a city that never sleeps, so I bet you assume we take advantage of every aspect of it. And even if we don’t do it on a daily basis, you probably think we do it on our day off. Nope, nothing like that is happening and I am the best example of that since I am writing this post on a day off, at 2 AM, while laying on my couch. It’s been a long time since I’ve been to a museum, I still need to catch up with several movies, and I won’t even mention my recent track record of parties (what’s a party…?). Instead of “taking advantage of the city’s riches” (since tomorrow I have a day off, as well), I didn’t do much and I’ve been mostly tossing about on my couch.
What do we, New Yorkers, do on our day off? We get up late, really late and think of catching up with some TV shows we were meaning to watch – as well as ponder the question of whether we should put on some proper clothes, or go out and eat something, or even work out a bit, only to be able to call this particular day a productive one. The workout version comes to pass surprisingly often – I had a long talk with myself today about whether I want to go for a swim, and then I actually went despite the rain outside. This version often wins, since we realize that the rest of the day will probably be not too productive, so in order not to get ourselves down with a guilty conscience, we work out a bit just to have an argument up our sleeve for later.
If you happen to be a woman, chances are you will use your day off to do manicure and pedicure, or both, in order to feel that you are fully taking advantage of the day (I already did pedicure today). Since we’re off, you’d think we’d check latest recipes on Food Network and cook? Nope: we go to the nearest Chinese place, usually located one block away, or simply order some takeout at a bar nearby. Most people won’t even go to fetch the food, they will have it delivered (not me: I usually feel guilty enough to actually walk to get my food myself).
Later on, we surround ourselves with a laptop on one side, some magazines on the other, and our cellphone within reach – and we keep checking each one, absorbing lots of information at once. Our day off, at least the first one after a long period of work, is usually pure procrastination. Why don’t we “go out”? Mostly because we are “out” every day, including the commute; because we fight crowds every day, because every day we come into contact with hundreds of people; because every day the city gives us thousands of stimuli – so when we get the one day to cut them off and remain within our apartments, we gladly seize the opportunity. And we don’t even consider all this procrastination – this is a breath of fresh air we desperately need. For tomorrow we will confront the city once again, only to fondly think back to laying around with some Chinese food and a new episode of “Vinyl” on our beloved couch with a tiny stain of jam we left as we were having our breakfast.
