January 18, 2011

Join the Calendar Revolution

Ever since I can remember, the calendar has looked a certain way.

You know, with the days listed “Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.”

That’s the traditional way most calendars are set up. Look at the nearest calendar in your home or office. Isn’t that the way it’s laid out?

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But why?

Don’t we working stiffs actually perceive the first day of the week to be Monday? And the last day of the week is Sunday, the holy day of rest and worship in the Christian religion—right?

So why – since like forever – has Sunday always been positioned on the calendar as the first day of the week?

OK, I realize I’m asking lots of questions here. So how about some answers? (Oops, there I go again…)

The Roman Emperor Constantine (306-337 A.D.), responding to his own conversion to Christianity, declared Sunday to be the empire’s official day of worship, giving it the religious functionality of the seventh day of the week. Yet Sunday continued to be observed as the first day of the calendar week, though I’m guessing most people weren’t even aware there was such a thing as a calendar in those days.

But later groups – notably the European Slavs – treated Monday as the first day of the week. As the world became more industrialized in the past couple hundred years, there was a gradual move toward thinking of Sunday as the second day of the work week’s end – a concept that holds true today in our modern world—at least in Western countries.

By the way, the concept of the “weekend” was apparently first documented in 1878, referring to the period between the close of one business week or school week and the beginning of the next. This idea definitely puts Sunday at the end of the week.

The Geneva-based International Standards Organization decided in 1988 that Monday should be regarded as the first day of the week, and calendars in many European countries now follow that ISO decision.

In 2010, my wife and I decided to make personal family calendars – with family photos gracing each month – as Christmas gifts. We chose a calendar template that begins the week with Monday and has the Saturday/Sunday weekend highlighted at the end of each week. And it just makes all kinds of sense when writing in your weekend plans!

One thing’s certain: The calendar is more a state of mind than a tangible reality. If you want to think Sunday’s the first day of the week, then keep going along with the pack.

No disrespect to Sunday – I’ll still love it whether it’s the first or seventh day of the week.

But if you feel like Monday’s REALLY the first day of the week, join the calendar revolution!

Ever since I can remember, the calendar has looked a certain way.

You know, with the days listed “Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday.”

That’s the traditional way most calendars are set up. Look at the nearest calendar in your home or office. Isn’t that the way it’s laid out?

But why?

Don’t we working stiffs actually perceive the first day of the week to be Monday? And the last day of the week is Sunday, the holy day of rest and worship in the Christian religion—right?

So why – since like forever – has Sunday always been positioned on the calendar as the…

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