"Just another Manic Monday...." is an earworm that I've heard for many years now from the song "Manic Monday by the Bangles (from the duclet tones of Susanna Hoffs!) but I learned from Friday's Jeopardy episode (I bragged to MJ that it was a Bobby episode- meaning if I was on the show, I would have won the game because I knew FJ and all 3 Daily doubles- but who knows how I would have performed on stage with stage fright, I know it's probabaly easier at home) that the song I know and love was actually written by Prince, yes the artist known as Prince but full name Prince Nelson Rogers from Minnesota who wrote songs that became hits not only for himself but for other bands, like "Nothing Compares 2 U" for Sinead O'Connor, and "Stand Back" for Stevie Nicks.... he has quite the influence on other bands and singers, enouh hits that Who Wants to Be a Millionaire had a question with 4 possible choices of songs that were originally written by Prince... all seemed plausible.
"Manic Monday" was a song about work on a Monday morning and wishing it was still a Sunday, lamenting the rat race lifestyle that a lot of everyday workers have....I haven't had that for awhile. Sure, like most people Monday is the return to the work week after the weekend, but I don't really feel the physical pressure of Monday, as I roll out of bed like every other day and have no heart pressure-raising bus or train to catch or need to be out the door by a certain time. This week, though, I gave myself a little stress test: commuting to work on a Thursday, by (gulp) train. Unlike the private confines of your own car, a train exposes you to the masses of humanity, to hundreds of others within 100 square feet of you all sharing the same space, breathing the same air..... some germaphobes swear they won't do it, some commuters swear by it. Me personally I can do without it, knowing how many people have sat in the seat I have, or that someone in my vicinity will suddenly open up a box of fried chicken and start eating while everyone else in the car has to smell the fried chicken while NOT being able to eat it, or someone will talk loudly on the phone about their root canal operation last night or what they thought of their dentist, or just general loud music, or people putting their feet in the aisle, all things that have happened to me. It's a crazy world, full of different variables, stressors, catalysts for anxiety, one could even call it.........manic. And don't get me started on the subway! I can't believe I spent a whole spring/summer in NYC commuting using the subway, and why are there always people who rush to get into the train, only to stop right at the doorway so they can be near it, but then everyone else trying to get on have to get around them to get into the middle. You really get to see some of the ills and shortcomings of people on a subway.
The other "manic" nature of it is the time.....getting to work exactly on time, now that I've been able to spend 4 years without having to do so, seems like an impossible task bordering on trying to land an airplane onto a helipad during a thunderstorm with high winds.....how do people do it? I don't even know if I'm going to wake up at a certain time, even with an alarm I might sleep through it or ignore it, or take a bunch of time going to the bathroom, getting something to eat......trying to project when you're going to get into the door of your office from where you are in the morning when you get up (before you get dressed, get ready to leave the front door) is so difficult, especially knowing EVERYONE IN THE WORLD is also doing that same thing on Monday morning, so trains, buses, roads for vehicles, everything is crowded. For someone like me who values every second and every minute and tries not to waste any time, it's way too manic, way too unpredictable, raises my blood pressure way too high. So yea, Google and Amazon employees plus all the tech companies trying to get their employees into the office, you better negotatie all the perks you can, more than just free food, maybe parking validations, gyms at the office site, good coffee machine (MJ would love that) before committing to go to the office....before you settle for just another Manic Monday!
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