Hard-working people everywhere look forward to the dawn of the weekend. The workload from the week is easily placed in the rear view mirror once the shift bells ring on Friday. The old cartoon, The Flintstones, portrays the phenomenon admirably in the opening scene where Fred is laboring in the quarry. As Fred sits atop his dinosaur the steam-powered shift bell rings and the weight is lifted for Fred. He jumps from the cockpit of his dino-powered front-end loader and exclaims “Yabadaba-Doo”. Once he slides down the dinosaur’s tail and punches his time card rock, you know that the game is on for Fred.
One of the reasons people get so excited at the end of the week is for their anticipation of weekend breaks.
It’s always great to have a long trip planned that takes you away from the workplace for an extended period of time. But in the absence of a full-blown vacation, a weekend getaway serves a similar function. The energizing effect of a weekend break can be significant. The sights and sounds of another locale are often enough to stimulate a feeling of rejuvenation. Experiencing a brief glimpse of unfamiliarity influences our perspective once we return to our home turf.