“Humpday” may be the universal nickname for Wednesday, but for years, I’ve called it “Winesday.” This dates to my very-laid-back job in Camas, WA. The ultra-hip office with the kegerator and ping-pong table and anything-goes dress code. Even the owners would show up wearing shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops.
BTW, I think I just set a record with hyphen use in that last paragraph (seven).
Part of the culture there involved enjoying an alcoholic beverage pretty much whenever you felt like it. Looking back now, this seems ludicrous. A disaster (or DUI) waiting to happen. Fortunately, most of us were responsible and didn’t abuse the privilege. And we never let it interfere with our work.
I’m not a beer guy, so the kegerator held no appeal for me. But I didn’t want to feel completely left out, so I suggested to my team (I supervised two other writers) that we take turns bringing in a bottle of wine to share every Wednesday. Uncorking (or more often than not, unscrewing, ’cause we just weren’t that fancy) that bottle shortly after 3:00 became a weekly ritual. Hey, it was 5:00 somewhere! And when it was 5:00 there we were headed home, so that wouldn’t have cut it. And thus, Winesday was born.
The companies I have worked for since have been far more conservative. If I opened a bottle of wine here at CenturyCo, I’d find myself in the unemployment line the next day.
Incidentally, I’ve never understood that term. Twice in my life I’ve been unemployed, but there was never a line I had to stand in. I just pulled up a website, checked a few boxes, and voila! Money magically appeared in my bank account every week. It was all very efficient.
Where was I? Oh, right. Getting canned for drinking on the job.
Only, I don’t anymore. But Winesday is alive and well. I still drink wine every Wednesday, only now, I wait until after work to enjoy a glass or two. What can I say? Old habits die hard and it’s a great way to celebrate reaching the halfway point of the work week.
You can have your camel. I’ll take my Sauvignon blanc.
A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned the cool mid-century modern starburst clock we picked up from a vintage store in the middle of nowhere, Wyoming. What I failed to mention was the fact that, when we got it home, we found out it didn’t work. Despite assurances from the owner that it worked just fine.
In retrospect, we should have asked to test it out before buying, but it required a D battery. Does anything use D batteries anymore?! I assumed those went extinct around the same time as the boombox. Either way, she didn’t (or pretended not to) have one. The cynic in me wonders if she just figured, Rapid City is 300 miles from Worland, and I will never see these two again. Long drive over two mountain ranges to return a clock, you know? Then again, maybe she honestly believed it worked. I’ll give her the benefit of the doubt so as to preserve my belief in the inherent goodness of mankind.
So, we got home, and found out we had paid $75 for a clock that didn’t tell time. Minor detail, that. Unlike its immobile minute hand, I was pretty ticked off. But then I remembered there’s a clock shop in downtown Rapid City. Well, it’s a clock-slash-pawn shop that also sells guns. Because this is South Dakota. I suggested we see if they could repair it, and sure enough, they replaced the quartz motor on back with a brand-new AA-operated one for $30. Now it works like a charm!
And, lesson learned: next time we buy something out of state, we’re stuffing our pockets full of D batteries first.
Mark My Words 
I like your clock. Pity it doesn’t like to work. Around here before the pandemic many restaurants had ‘Wine-day’ specials with half price bottles. No more, of course. I still find myself thinking about a glass of wine on Wednesday though. Talk about a Pavlovian response… 🍷
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In retrospect, I should have waited to post this until I actually had said wine in hand. ‘Cause I’ve been thinking about it since lunchtime.
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I recently on my newsfeed that bars in office buildings may be the new “amenity” (sort of like the game rooms from … a decade or so ago? 🙂 )
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Really? I guess my old employer was ahead of the game in that regard! The publishing company I worked for out here had beer in the fridge that we would sometimes break out after 4:00, which I suppose is a happy medium.
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Oh my goodness, I’m howling! I’m not sure they let you cross state lines with your pockets full of batteries. And I love knowing the full origin of Winesday!
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No worries. If they ask me whether those are batteries in my pocket, I’ll just say I’m happy to see them.
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🙂 🙂 🙂
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I think of a daisy when I see the clock- very cute and retro. How close is Camas to the Columbia- like can you see the river? Before gas became too expensive I was planning an excursion that way as it’s been years and I’d like to drive along the Columbia on our side, not 84. That is now on hold.
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Camas is right next to the Columbia River. I couldn’t quite see it from the office, but close! I love SR14 on the Washington side. Driving that stretch, past Cape Horn and Beacon Rock – then across the Bridge of the Gods – was always beautiful. (And twisty. Not fun in the snow!)
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Good, I’ll add that to my stops list…someday.
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Fabulous clock, glad it’s ticking again. But please explain to me why you would ever leave a job where you could drink at the office.
😳
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Only because it was in a state where I couldn’t afford a house!
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I love that clock! We used to collect Deco/Mid-century items and bought a few clocks here and there. They all needed something done to them to make them work. I hope clock repair shops – and the wonderful, detail-oriented (mostly) men who work there – never go away. I’m afraid that it may be a lost art soon, though.
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I hope they stick around, too. These guys do great work!
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Oh my, I recall there was a clock like that in the parental home. It also ran off a D battery 😀
I used to temp in the advertising/PR world when a young gel in my 20s in London, and there was much drink taken. Never actually in the office, but daily lunches and after work drinks were a regular and common practice. A friend and I used to split a bottle of house sparkling wine at lunchtime of a Friday after collecting our weekly pay from the temp agency. Oh those mad days eh?
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Mad, yes. But fun! I didn’t mention in my post, but there was also a bar across the street, and we’d hold many a meeting there. If my boss could’ve set up a workstation there, I have no doubt he would have done so.
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Oh yes, because my closest work friends were in the same team, we often had “brainstorming” sessions at the pub over the road. Mostly informal, but sometimes formal. Good fun 🙂
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As someone who loves clocks, that clock is super groovy! I was worried the clock shop was going to charge you more than you paid for the clock. We have a few antique clocks that have needed repaired and it’s always over $100. Probably because there are few qualified repair folks anymore.
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I was fully expecting to end up paying at least double the original price, so $30 was a relief!
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When I worked with Australians, I was amazed at the difference in attitudes toward alcohol–the Aussies had alcohol at lunches, wine on Friday afternoons in the office, etc. Probably it’s less boozy now, but back then it was quite the culture shock.
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Australians have always struck me as a pretty laid-back bunch overall, so I can’t say I’m too surprised they’d be so open to a little mid-day Foster’s.
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Love the clock – very retro! Even though our sons are now grown we still keep batteries on-hand though nary a C or D cell is to be found.
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That four-pack of D batteries we bought will probably still be sitting unused in the basement a decade from now.
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I’m all for Wines-Day!
Remember Mad Men? They drank ALL day long and nothing bad happened. HA!
I’m so happy the clock story has a happy ending; it is lovely!
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I actually almost referenced “Mad Men” in this episode. It definitely reminded me of that (minus the rampant sexism).
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Unlike its immobile minute hand, I was pretty ticked off.–That was a good one.
And even more hyphens came later!
Winesday is awesome. That work place did sound pretty cool, but, yeah, dangerous.
Glad you got the clock working. Hope it’s worth $105 to you.
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What can I say? I’m hyphen-happy!
Totally worth $105. An original MCM starburst clock in that condition can easily fetch $250 or more. Some even run in the thousands. Insane.
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Wow! Quite the investment then. Oh, and I loved your description of the clock repair/pawn shop/gun store! Ha!
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I’m going to suggest an open bar to my elementary school principal at our next staff meeting and see what reaction I get…
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Bwahaha!! That’ll go over well, I’m sure. (Though most of the staff would probably anoint you their spiritual leader.)
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In my school district I can have an unloaded gun in the trunk of my car on school property, but if I have an unopened bottle of wine in the trunk on school property, I can be fired. Ridiculous.
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That’s corking ridiculous…
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