Does Tuesday Serve Any Useful Purpose?

How do you feel about Tuesday? I’ve always had a problem with it. It always felt to me like a day of the week that really didn’t belong. It always felt like Monday 2.0 for some reason. Not really needed but I guess you can’t have a seven day week without it. Actress Tuesday Weld was not born on a Tuesday she just changed her name to Tuesday. Does that make any sense at all? How did we get stuck with Tuesday anyway?

Tuesday Origins

We can blame in on the Norwegians. They named Tuesday to honor their God “Twi” or “Tyr.” The Romans were way off base calling it by a bunch of “M” names. “Dies Martis,” after Mars the God of War. The French, Spanish and Italians were also on the “M” kick with “Mardi,” “Martes,” and “Martedi.”

It took the Germans to bring some sense to this naming frenzy. After kicking out the Romans the German tribes renamed Tuesday after their own God of War, “Tiw” or “Tiwaz.” The name “Tuesday” was finally brought to England in the sixth century by the Angles and Saxons calling it “Tiwasdaeg.” The spelling still needs a little work.

Lucky Tuesday?

If you are traveling make sure you are in Wales on a Tuesday where it’s considered lucky but in Greece or Spain it’s considered unlucky. If you see Bill Clinton or George H.W. Bush in northern England run the other way because it’s bad luck to meet a left-handed person on a Tuesday in that part of the world. But on other days of the week it would be good luck to meet either one. My head is starting to hurt.

Holiday Tuesdays

We always vote on Tuesday so I guess you can decide for yourself if that’s lucky or unlucky for you. There are plenty of Monday three-day weekends to celebrate but not so much on Tuesday. Californians don’t barbecue as much on Tuesdays and are less likely to mow the lawn on that day. Let’s face it; they were always a little strange over there.

If you are using the Gregorian calendar you will find that a Tuesday Christmas Eve is at the bottom in days of the week when that event occurs. However Christmas Eve will be on a Tuesday in 2013. But only Thursday beats out Tuesday as the leading day to celebrate Christmas day. I guess it must have something to do with that leap year thing we do every four years.

Productive Tuesday?

Its official Tuesday is the most productive day of the week according to a survey from AccountTemps. Fifty percent of 150 executives polled said their employees are more productive on Tuesdays than any other day of the week. As you might imagine Friday, especially Friday afternoon, is the least productive day and time of the week.

Some Final Thoughts

Perhaps I’m being a little too hard on Tuesday. In fact Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday are all pretty useless. They get in the way of our weekends. Monday’s are no fun but at least there's Monday Night Football. Several holidays are on Mondays. There’s Thursday night football. There are food sale inserts in the Wednesday newspaper. Then there’s that stupid Geico commercial about “hump day” with the camel. Tuesday just sits there like a lump giving us a five-day work-week. “Hey Tuesday, What have you done for me lately?” By the way, if you got an extension on your taxes they are due today. Happy Tuesday.