Weekends claim our precious holidays

OPINION: What happened to Valentine's Day, or come to that, Waitangi Day?, writes Pat Veltkamp Smith in this week's And Another Thing.

I don't know about you but round here they flew past fast, before I'd thought of biculturalism, or got out the three little words that should have heralded an avalanche of red roses.

Next up is Anzac Day and since it, too, is a weekender, a lot will be lost in the translation.

Our words of thanksgiving and prayers for peace will possibly morph into our Sunday service, some people placing wreaths at cenotaphs, others passing plates in church, others still passed out at home.

It is hard when these big days, and they are the big three right now, come at the weekend and our minds are on other things.

We seem wired to do big national days in the boss's time and enjoy weekends in our own and if there's a clash, well big nat-ional days miss out.

Instead of making it to the marae or to the florist job we are home cleaning the car, cutting the lawn or getting ready to go to the pub.

Now Christmas Day is a Saturday this year and Boxing Day a Sunday and, although two days of holiday will follow, there's an uneasy feel about it.

With Christmas a weekender so too is New Year's Day, the first two days of 2011 being a Saturday and a Sunday.

Look at your own calendar and be surprised.

All the weekends are taken up and there are hardly any holidays studding the weeks, just Queen's Birthday in June and, a long freeze later, Labour Day Monday in October.

Honestly, it's got me beat why anyone wants to standardise Southland's anniversary day.

It's been the one perk of the job that we like, a little extra bit tacked on to Christmas or Easter, Labour Weekend or annual holidays.

With a little care it is a day that can be celebrated half a dozen times in the year.

And people want to put a stop to it.

Why?

We've a lot to celebrate in the south and so often we are hard pressed to get the time to do it.

» Pat Veltkamp Smith was Southland Times women's editor until 1997 and is a former president of the Southland Justices of the Peace Association.

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