2020-04-24 – Thank God It’s Friday! And yesterday was Thank God It’s Thursday.

This is not some apocalyptic realization that we owe some deity thanks for every day. This is just a reflection of the rhythm of my weeks over the last several years. I was saying TGIT long before COVID-19.

It’s because of my Thursday guitar class. And it’s not just the guitar class. Well before COVID-19, Thursday was my night out. My guitar buddy would pick me up. We’d go to class at the Old Town School of Folk Music. Then we’d go across the street to The Grafton and have a late dinner (8:30, which is late to me). So TGIT.

And Fridays at work (which has been at home for the last five-and-a-half years) is usually pretty chill. And my Friday end-of-work activity is a class—kinda anticlimactic. So by Thursday evening my work week feels pretty much over.

We are now online, so there’s no dinner at The Grafton. My night out has become my night “out.” But I still say TGIT. The rhythm of the week is too engrained.

This Thursday was a particularly nice one. Our COVID scare (family member X from yesterday’s post) got their test results back and they were negative. And I had a nice 20-mile bike ride after work and seemed to be mostly recovered from Saturday’s fall.

This morning, when I was out walking our dog, I saw our neighbor through the fence tending her dog. I asked how she an her husband were doing.

“Thank God!” was the answer. She always answers this way and it always creeps me out.

I actually admire people who are grateful and try to be more grateful myself. But the formulaic “Thank God!” always makes me think of an abusive relationship. The god that demands constant and servile reassurance of “His” goodness (it’s always a He, isn’t it?), even in the face of disaster, is not someone I want to know.

If you actually READ the Bible, you find out that the patriarchs—always men, again—weren’t sniveling cowards. They even talked back to their god and called him out, if they thought he was doing wrong. I don’t know where that lesson got lost.

Thank God It’s Friday.

What do you think? Scroll down to comment.

Like what you read? Share with your friends.

If you are new to EightOh9, check out the site and Follow Me by clicking on the Follow button that appears on the screen (lower right).