Mired in Sunday afternoon ennui

Who doesn't get mired in Sunday afternoon ennui? For those of us who can still work Monday through Friday , Sunday afternoons mark that turning-point where your care-free attitude shifts toward the realization that you are doomed, that work looms in front of you--lurches over you. Your thoughts turn towards the office. You begin having negative fantasies about your co-workers and supervisors, imagining scenarios in which you finally stand your ground, you finally tell off that s.o.b. and let him know that things are going to be different from now on and that henceforth you will be respected for the person you are--the three-dimensional bundle of experience, dashed hopes, love longed-for and lost. Laughs shared. Tears concealed. You will be addressed as sir, you will be treated as an equal. Your ideas and efforts will never again be second-guessed, and people will move aside as you swagger down the hall.

You are not just some logistical numbers-crunching. You have great ideas, you have great plans. You can make a difference in the world. Set things right. Make a child laugh. You once thought of becoming a philosopher. You were going to shake the foundations of academia and your lessers would clamor before you to ponder your acumen.

On Saturday there is still hope. There is still so much time to do chores. Wait until Sunday. Now you can relax, lounge around in your pajamas, have another mojito.

There is no turning back on Sunday afternoon. The weather finally starts to clear. The sun comes out for a dress-rehearsal of the week to come of crisp blue skies , beckoning to you from your cubicle. Should you try to do something now? Salvage those few hours of freedom? The remote slack in your hand, you think of going out, calling up a friend, going down to the city.

No. You flip to the travel channel, look at the beaches, the cobble-stone streets, the wind-surfers The tour guide goes into the public market, samples some local delicacy, exchanges pleasantries with the vendors, and tells you where you can rent bicycles.

Then arrivederci and on to the poker semi-finals.