Don’t you think it’s unfair that after two days of no-work during the weekend, we working stiffs must return to the reality, necessity, duty of work on the first day of the week? And that, as an inescapable consequence, we are saddled with the inevitable “Monday morning blues”?

Monday, the first day after the two-day weekend, Saturday followed by Sunday, the day God allowed himself to take a rest after creating the universe for birds to fly in the air, fish to swim in the water, human beings to walk the earth, work. Monday, named after the moon, Lunes in Spanish and Tagalog, Lundi in French, Mond in German. Ask your friend or anyone within hearing distance, now, as we speak, “Do you like Mondays?” and 10 to one you’ll get “No” for an answer.

Monday represents inertia, it means waking up from 48 hours of blissful no-work to return to the scourge of work. Then again: What is the alternative? Joblessness, no work no pay. Sluggishness. Nowhere to go but the mall, malls everywhere, wall to wall – why not, if our cities don’t have enough parks with shady trees and flowering gardens?

On a lazy Monday last week, therefore, we decided to do nothing by doing it in a mall, one of the newer ones, one with a five-story ceiling to give us an illusion of space and spaciousness. Because it was a working day, there were not too many people – what a relief! – and as it was lunchtime, it was time to sit down anyway. We were happy with the food – a salad made of a water-borne vegetable called “pako,” sinigang soured by green mango, “Peking” chicken, which I renamed Pride chicken even if it arrived on our table three minutes before dessert.

I told my tablemates to give the chef the benefit of the doubt. It was Monday, he was probably tired from Sunday’s work load. They agreed, but we moved to another restaurant for palitaw, bibingka with salted egg, and steaming hot tea.

Here, everything was A-Ok, Monday or not. After all, this place is way ahead of the one with the Pride chicken because they have a headstart of more than 25 years of experience – that’s a lot of Mondays!