How should i know?

My wife’s first words this morning – her behaviour is becoming more and more erratic – were “Is it a bank holiday in England?”

“Good morning sweetheart, I love you too.” I replied before hobbling off to make some toast.

As I waited for the bread to crispen (and secretly eat a whole box of fresh strawberries) I thought about the question.

How should i know?

Does she mistakingly believe i know everything?.

Anything?

Today is a bank holiday in France, well, sort of.

Yesterday was Pentecostal Sunday - the day when the Holy Spirit may have visited Jesus’s disciples in a closed upstairs room, that or else some heavy drinking was going on .

As a result the French designated the Monday after as a holiday.

Well, it was until 2003 when it got very hot in the summer and a lot of elderly people died from heat exhaustion at a time when most public sector workers, especially care staff, were on holiday splashing around in the sea.

The government was a bit embarrassed so they declared the lundi de pentecôte a day of solidarity for the elderly. When you worked that day the money you or your company made, it was a bit confusing, went to a solidarity fund for the elderly.

Some people were not too happy especially when it seemed that politicians were exempt from the initiative, so over the next couple of years the idea altered so that if you wanted you could have the day as a holiday as long as you chose another day as your solidarity day, at least I think that was the case.

Later you could decide whether you wanted to show any solidarity anymore or just wanted a holiday.

Most people decided that they still wanted it as a holiday, the solidarity day doesn’t get mentioned very much any more and the Prime Minister responsible lost his job.

So today is a holiday – sort of.

Here.



ps. morning 9.45, running, down 34