How the Week Organizes and Tyrannizes Our Lives

As someone who used to be an avid physical weekly planner user, the weekends after a long week of school were my absolute favorite. They meant eating out with my mom, getting boba for every meal, and sleeping in until 2 PM. However, as I got older, weekends turned into extended work days meant to catch up on missing assignments I failed to turn in on time.


However, things changed after I came to USC. Thursdays after 4 PM marked the beginning of my weekend; my refusal to take any Friday classes ensured that. Some semesters—if I had an especially lucky schedule—I would have Mondays and Fridays off because I had no classes. This semester, my Tuesdays and Fridays are free of any classes.



Growing up, I always asked my mom why we had Sundays and Saturdays off. If everyone is trying to run errands on those two days, wouldn’t it be better for us to pick two other days to take off so that we can avoid the rush hour and grocery shoppers? She never had an answer. However, as I mentioned, having every Tuesday off has given me time to reflect on the rigid 5-day workweek, 2-day weekend schedule I’ve been taught since I was a child.



From the cultural to religious influence of the 7-day week cycle that has been exacerbated by television schedules, it’s interesting how we as humans continue to solidify the existence of this schedule. Furthermore, Achelis’ attempts at calendar reform were because some things didn’t make sense and were “disturbing” is quite funny in many ways. It truly makes me think about how much these norms matter at the end of the day, and what other guidelines we follow as a society may be worth reconsidering in order to better suit our needs and lifestyles.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

World We Dare to Imagine Part 1

Western values are inherently quite individualistic. Evident in our history and our own experiences,  capitalism—a cornerstone of our society—perpetuates continued values of individualism. However, as long as it continues to foster innovation, it’s impossible to separate these two ideals.  However, this is most definitely not true for the rest of the world. I’ve reflected on Jacqueline Novogratz’s The Blue Sweater, and it’s clear to me that strong communities with impeccable resilience still exist to support each other when no one else will. The same sense of hyper individualism does not exist all across the world. The issue is that when addressing global issues, these communities that are directly affected cannot be the only ones engaged.  In imagining making the world a better place, I see us students at the forefront. Not only educating ourselves on these issues to move towards a collective shift for community values, but taking that leap needed to make change. There's...
Read more

AMDP: Brewgooder

Image
  🗓️ Date: March 5, 2024 To: CEO of Anima Mundi Development Partners (AMDP) 👤 From: Tina Nguyen, Research and Development Department 📧 Subject: Investment Proposal: Consideration of Brewgooder After careful consideration and thorough market analysis, AMDP should invest in Brewgooder , a craft beer company that invests its profits from beer sales into clean water projects around the world. While it was challenging finding tangible data for Brewgooder from external outlets, the brewery has high potential and has persistently maintained its profit, growth, and social impact through innovative means.  This memo contains: Summary of AMDP’s investment criterias  Overview of Brewgooder’s background, company claims, and financial data Expert opinions on Brewgooder’s social impact Investment proposal I. Goals  In alignment with AMDP's mission, it's crucial to grasp key concepts shaping our investment criteria: Triple Bottom Line Definition: A company’s ability to bal...
Read more