tattie picking day

@jb78000 (15139)
October 22, 2009 1:07pm CST
the postal service can be very endearing. not only are they very fond of their strikes (but only hold them when there is a vowel in the month) they are also not bad at inventing holidays. in one, and only one, town in south west scotland the post office there decided that the imaginary holiday in the title provided a fabulous reason for another day off. they'd had one for some other reason the week before as well as all the real ones. so in your country are there any other organisations that have institutionalised skiving to such a degree?
2 people like this
8 responses
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Oct 09
If only I knew what skiving was. It sounds like a combination of skiing and sky diving.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Oct 09
PS tattie?
@jb78000 (15139)
22 Oct 09
taking time off work or school for no real reason. tattie = potato. obviously you don't pick them, this holiday was invented by the post office.
1 person likes this
@dawnald (85135)
• Shingle Springs, California
22 Oct 09
aha, thanks... Well there's Congress. They don't have to declare anything a holiday, just take off...
@thea09 (18305)
• Greece
22 Oct 09
Everyone is always on strike over here in every field, all laid back, no pickets, usually a day either side of the weekend. They usually do it on different days, teachers, bin men, surgeons, nurses, etc etc. Then sometimes we have a national strike when everyond strikes on the same day so they can all go out for lunch together. I notice the bank strikes more than the others, and can't help noticing the bin stikes by the stench.
1 person likes this
@jb78000 (15139)
22 Oct 09
that is beautifully well organised skiving you have over there.
@celticeagle (159058)
• Boise, Idaho
23 Oct 09
How screwey! Skiving? Am I missing something here?
@jb78000 (15139)
23 Oct 09
i don't know.
@Sandra1952 (6047)
• Spain
23 Oct 09
Hello, Judith. You'd have to go a very long way to beat Spain for institutionalised skiving. We have public holidays on almost every important saints day - and as each villag has a holiday on their patron saint's day, there's at least one public holiday a week here on the Costa Blanca. If the saint's day falls on a Thursday, they usually take the Friday and Monday as 'red letter days' to make a long weekend. If you live here, you have to keep a calendar of the saint's days, as everything closes except the bars and restaurants. On top of that are the constitutional days for each autonomous region, so there's plenty of institutionalised skiving here.
@jb78000 (15139)
23 Oct 09
pretty good going. just hoping that perhaps our postal workers don't decide to take their holidays in your bit because no doubt they'd get some inspiration. they too have about 1 day off a week (+weekends) and that i fear is plenty.
@sunny68 (1327)
• India
23 Oct 09
here it is the government itself..!! India is a land of festivals...so also a land of holidays. there is hardly any month without 2 or 3 holidays....no wonder we are developing at a slow pace....
@sunny68 (1327)
• India
23 Oct 09
P.S. FYI - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_India
23 Oct 09
I am ragin' at this strike! I have important stuff comming in from the bank etc, and now I am never going to get it. I hate the post office the one next to me is always packed out the door no matter the time of the day, it is a task in itself just to get in the door. I mean the people in the post office are lovely but the queues are killer and it is the worst when the shut for the day because the next day it is even more packed.
@jb78000 (15139)
29 Oct 09
it can be frustrating when the banks etc go on strike.
@Hatley (163781)
• Garden Grove, California
22 Oct 09
oh yes indeed Jb blue bunny our American banks its not enough that they have bankers hours but they take every holiday you can think of to close, they love the ones that make long weekends, mothers day or fathers day, or Martin Luther KIngs Birthday , and of course all the national holidays the rest of us have off like Christmas and thanksgiving and memorial Day and the Fourth of July. so of course it will take much longer for checks to close and business to be done, but they really do not give a tinker's damn.
@jb78000 (15139)
22 Oct 09
yes banks are good at this too. do you also call the monday holidays 'bank holidays'? think there is a good reason they are called that over here.
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
22 Oct 09
Our post office and trash collection is closed for like every known holiday. There are holidays that the schools don't even get off for but, the post office and trash does. The most recent one was Columbus Day, it isn't something that the schools close for but the trash and mail don't run.
@jb78000 (15139)
22 Oct 09
sounds familar but at least obscure branches of your post office do not actually invent holidays...