Nice weather we're having

A standard Monday morning activity in elementary school was to go over what everyone had done on the weekend. Thinking back now, I’m surprised any of us really had much to share – what do ten year olds do on the weekend? I had no money, no interests, and no driver’s license. The most exciting weekend activity during those years would have been going grocery shopping with my father and picking out a special treat. Actually, in those days, after grocery shopping on a Saturday (almost always Saturday), I’d go home and settle in front of the TV and watch Star Trek: Voyager. You couldn’t speak to me during the one hour that the programme was on. My mom likens me to a zombie if she ever tells anyone about those days (and she loves to tell everyone about those embarassing days). I was glued to the TV, watching Captain Janeway’s every move. Actually, as an aside, I dressed up as her for Halloween one year. All that to say, I never really had much to share with the class.

I completely digressed though. My point being, Monday mornings were often spent discussing, in great (and unnecessary) detail, what we had done on the weekend. In junior high this activity usually fell by the wayside as teachers really didn’t care, and more often than not all everyone had to say was that on Friday night they’d gone to see a movie at the theatre. Grade seven was nothing if not predictable.

Surprisingly, the what-did-you-do-on-the-weekend activity returned in my first year of university. In the same grade seven predictability, all anyone ever really had to discuss was an episode of binge drinking, except most of us felt this wasn’t the best story to share with the professor (that is, if you even remembered the story to begin with). The professor who made us participate in this activity is the same professor that made the class, on the first day, stand up one at a time and say your name and one thing you enjoy doing. It was like being back in the first grade, except that everyone had already hit puberty and we were paying a lot of money to be there.

Now, at work, every Monday inevitably leads to the same discussion: How was your weekend? This question, to me anyway, is in the same category as setences like “We should do lunch” and “How are you?” It’s something that we just say, and we’re all guilty of it. No one wants an answer, really. It’s just something to fill the conversational void, like talking about the weather. Even so, I always say something when asked. Saying “nothing” is the ultimate conversation foul. It goes nowhere and both parties are then left trying to escape or salvage the wreckage.

So, how was your weekend?