The 17 day hero and why I used to idolise them 35 years ago.
Most people are having 17 days off at Christmas but still complain they must work till friday. I’d imagine most workers who finish their last working day before Christmas as walking through their front door hands held high shouting those immortal lines “a full SEVENTEEN days off”!!!
I used to put them in the same category as the Roman legion’s after a 60 month deployment in Europe in the freezing cold taking over new territories by fighting a new war, I’d put them in the same realm as Allied forces liberating Paris from the Germans and sitting on top of a tank the whole time with a brown leather jacket full of medals knowing victory was finally theirs.
These people were genuine heroes to me.
Then I tried it myself one year in my teens. 17 days off, eating what I wanted, zero exercise and not moving too much (after all, I “deserved it”).
I managed to get to 9 days. I started to wheeze heavily, develop a heavy cold, came out in spots, and had to wear more baggy jumpers, and started to feel VERY sorry for myself.
This was NOT the promised land I’d been promised by those who had the famous 17 days off and those Christmas adverts and programmes. They said it was a much “better life” and I should do it.
Then natural instincts kicked in, I went for a run. “A run” was an exaggeration. First hill I had to walk, literally I couldn’t move much up the hill, struggling to breathe literally and had to walk home. I struggled to get into the shower and sat in the chair for the rest of the evening. I vowed never again would I let myself go like that and feel THAT BAD.
I sincerely wish all of you 17 day holiday workers the very best, you really DESERVE your time off but the 17 day off from everything and eating to excess doesn’t make you a true hero in my book and the monstrous side effects that brings.
Have a bit of what you fancy to eat and drink, celebrate your time of still walking through the front door, have some much needed rest but use exercise/moving more as something that HEALS you, celebrate how fit you now are and keep your MIND RIGHT at a time of year that’s also a bit of a downer for many too and you will STILL be a hero to me.
