Thursday, May 28, 2009

Summer Friday Envy

Summer Fridays. Have you all heard of this glorious invention? It's when a company lets their employees leave early on Friday afternoons during the summer (Memorial Day to Labor Day typically). Some companies even let their employees pick a number of Fridays that they can just take off. And these are in addition to the other days you get off throughout the year.

When I moved to Chicago this past year, I had no idea this was an East Coast idea. Yep, my company doesn't support the Summer Friday cause. Apparently I will be chained to my desk until 5PM every summer Friday evening.

Granted, even when I lived in NYC I didn't have Summer Fridays. But sometimes I could ditch my desk a little earlier (say 3:30 or 4PM) to catch a train out to the Shore. Sidenote: can I just say I already have Shore envy?! I miss my house like crazy.

And now that I live in the Midwest, I can kiss the idea of ever having the luxury of getting out at 2PM or 3PM the weekend before a holiday or just taking a Friday off for no other reason than that it's summer and I want to get to Manasquan before nightfall.

Not that I have anywhere to go. Some people go to Michigan or Wisconsin. But I will probably spend most of my summer at my dad's pool. I can't decide if I love that idea or loathe it. I also realized fairly quickly that people who live in Chicago stay in Chicago during the summer - because I mean when else do you get this nice weather? Never. That's when.

So as my friends pack up their desks early and retreat to the Shore, or the Hamptons, or the Cape - I'll be here.

I have a case of hardcore Summer Friday envy.

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I had those!

Anonymous said...

I have a friend in Chicago, and her and her boyfriend go to a lot of events on the beach and the foodie festival.
Have a great summer!

Anonymous said...

My boss used to let us do that all the time but since the economy went south and our business with it we don't have that freedom anymore.

Chocolate & Chants said...

Just found out today that I get to pick 4 Fridays this summer :) Yay!

christinamg said...

Wow, I didn't even know those existed! Sounds awesome. Great....now I'm jealous!

Christina said...

I work from home in sales so I can pretty much sneak out early. HeHeHe! Hope you don't mind if I leave an additional comment. Visit The Original Scrapbox and check out their storage products.

Pam said...

It really must be an east coast thing because the only place I've worked that believed in Summer Fridays (as in you got every other one off), was based in Boston. A few of my friends here in Chicago have Summer Fridays, but they always have so much work to do that they never get out when they should. Bummer.

The pool will be fun! And who knows...maybe you'll see me there once in awhile. Very exciting, I know.

Unknown said...

a few companies in the twin cities offer summer fridays and i always hoped i would work for one of them! unfortunately, my new job doesn't offer them, but it is pretty easy to sneak out an hour early on fridays, especially in the summer

mk said...

I'm one of those lucky ones who gets summer fridays. I'm even one of the very lucky ones whose department decided to do entire days off so I got to choose a handful of days (including tomorrow) that I get off. I think it is a trade off for the pay. Haha.

Skinny Bitches in the Making said...

forget about moving around the US, you need to move to Cape Town, South Africa. It's a well-known thing that you'll never be able to do business on a Friday in Cape Town, most people have already left by lunch time. This is a regular occurrence in summer but we do it in winter too. How else do we get to enjoy cocktails when the sun is going down?!

Jenny @ Practically Perfect... said...

Hmm, this must be a very regional East Coast thing, because I'm not familiar with any companies around where I live doing this. Sounds like a wonderful idea, though!

Abby said...

We don't have these in Philly either. Well, as a teacher we don't anyway. But getting the summer off is probably better than Friday Envy anyway! And I was at the shore for the first time ever last weekend. Nice, but not all that everyone cracks it up to be. But maybe I'm just biased because I'm a Midwesterner at heart ;)

Mara said...

I've always loved Chicago, but I can't imagine living so far from a coast. And, those winters....whew!

MadLibbs said...

Hey- So I live in Chicago and work for an ad agency. We get out every Friday between memorial day an labor day at 1, So I guess it really isn't just an East Coast thing.

Career Girl Network Marcy said...

I think this must be a thing for communities that frequently leave the "city" for another destination on summer weekends...east coast, for example. But here in Minnesota, it's very common because a lot of people are "lake people" in the summer. Very few people are in the office Friday afternoons. So I guess you could move to Minneapolis!

Nickie. said...

I've never heard of this..and I'm from the East Coast. I'd only wish to get out early..but I'd doubt I'd be going to the shore! lol

Pursuit of Matching Accessories said...

Hmm, we get off an hour early the work day before every Friday. During Christmas, we get off an hour early every day! I <3 it. But then again, I'd rather be one of those companies that give their employees two weeks of paid vacation during Christmas-New Years.

Oh envy.

Natalie | Make Today Great said...

Definitely a East Coast thing. We got out at 3 p.m. on Friday before Memorial day and thought it was a victory. That won't happen again for awhile!

Katie said...

Oh I'm sorry! Well, at my office we only get out 1 hour earlier, at 4:30, but we have to come in an hour earlier to make up for it - even though we don't open any earlier!

And same here I guess - I don't have anywhere to go. My co-workers all jet to Florida or drive out to the Hamptons. I go home.. but the relaxation is nice!

L said...

If it makes you feel any better, I am on the East Coast, but can't ever leave before 6:30pm. Total bummer! I will definitely be making it to the Shore at some point this summer - I just probably won't get there before midnight on a Friday. :)

Bill said...

Even better is that here at People they have us just alternate and get full days off every other friday. I love the media world versus finance.