Ever wondered how the traffic seems to have thinned down, the train less crowded and you can get a seat on the bus, on your commute home on Friday evening? The reason for this is POETS day and POETS is an acronym meaning Push Off Early Tomorrow's Saturday1. As more and more of us are working in the service industries and as more of the production industries are on a shortened week2 POETS day is becoming an increasingly popular phenomenon.
With the introduction of flexi hours it is easier for people to experience POETS day for themselves, working to the end of Friday's core time, and making up the time in the rest of the week. The idea is to make the weekend longer, to start the celebrations of another week's pay at the bars earlier, which is why the one place it's harder to get a seat on a Friday evening than any other place, is in the myriad drinking establishments. Even students are up to it, they often work out their timetable to avoid Friday afternoon lectures so that they can head for home and the washing machine at lunch times on Fridays, or straight into the Union Bar for the start of a mammoth session.
POETS day is fast becoming an institution and the extended, but diluted, flow of traffic on Friday evenings is evidence of this. So if you are looking for a new job, check the working time requirements and aim to become part of the institution of POETS day, to really get the most out of that feel-good Friday buzz.
1 Although before the five day week it was Push Off Early Tomorrow's Sunday.
2 A hangover from the depression of the 1970s but the Unions quite like to have a half day on Friday.
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