Poor Monday. Monday has become the official scapegoat for everything. It’s the day we blame for alarm clocks, traffic, inboxes, and the fact that weekends insist on ending. Monday has such a terrible reputation that people write songs about disliking it.
Personally, I think Monday gets more blame than it deserves.
The day that really sneaks up on me is Tuesday.
Monday still has a little momentum. You’re easing back into the week, catching up with coworkers, pretending you’re going to stay on top of your email this time. Tuesday, however, is when reality taps you on the shoulder and says, “Cute plan. Anyway…”
Tuesday is when your conditioner pump suddenly decides it no longer believes in pumping conditioner. Your Wi-Fi starts acting like it’s being paid by the minute. You discover you’re out of coffee after you’ve already made it to the kitchen. The meeting that absolutely could have been an email somehow becomes an hour long, and just when you think the day couldn’t get any more ridiculous, you spend fifteen minutes looking for your sunglasses…while they’re sitting on top of your head.
Not every Tuesday is like this, of course.
Sometimes it’s your Wednesday.
Sometimes it’s a Saturday.
The point is that everyone has those days where absolutely nothing is catastrophic, yet somehow everything is just a little harder than it should be. Those are Tuesdays. The funny thing is that we almost never know when someone else is having one. The cashier who forgot to smile may have spent the morning trying to get a toddler out the door. The driver who didn’t wave after you let them merge might be replaying an awkward doctor’s appointment in their head. The friend who hasn’t answered your text may have every intention of replying but keeps getting interrupted by life every time they pick up their phone.
From the outside, all we see is one tiny moment. We have no idea what happened during the ten hours before it. I’ve caught myself writing entire stories about people based on thirty seconds of interaction. Someone doesn’t text back, and suddenly I’ve decided they’re upset with me. Someone seems distracted, and I’ve convinced myself they’re being rude. Then, without fail, the truth turns out to be far less interesting. They were in a meeting. Their phone died. They forgot to hit send. They were simply…having a Tuesday.
I think we’d all be a little happier if we remembered that more often. Not because every rude person deserves a free pass. Some people really are inconsiderate. But most of the people we encounter each day aren’t trying to make our lives more difficult. They’re simply trying to keep their own from falling apart long enough to remember whether they needed paper towels or toilet paper.
Life is funny that way. We tend to judge ourselves by our intentions and everyone else by the few moments we happen to witness. Yet if our roles were reversed, we’d probably hope for exactly the same thing: a little patience, a little understanding, and the benefit of the doubt.
So the next time someone seems distracted, forgetful, or just a little off, I’m going to try to pause before I invent a story about them. Maybe they’re not having a bad attitude. Maybe they’re just having a Tuesday.
And if you happen to see me wandering around Costco with my shopping cart parked sideways while I stare blankly at the shelves trying to remember what I came for… Please know I’m probably having one too.
💌Charlotte