On a Wednesday

Wednesday gets no respect. Heck, I can hardly spell it let alone live through it.

On a Monday I was arrested
On a Tuesday they locked me in the jail
On a Wednesday my trial was attested
On a Thursday they said guilty and the Judge’s gavel fell

Johnny Cash had a bad day on a Monday and got Stripes Around his Shoulders on Tuesday. All he got to do on Wednesday was sit and listen in court. It took ’till Thursday for any action on his case.

On a Monday my Momma come to see me
On a Tuesday they caught me with a file
On a Wednesday I’m down in solitary
On a Thursday I start on bread and water for a while

Again with the Wednesday—Monday, Tuesday, Thursday there’s at least SOMETHING going on. On Wednesday he’s just sitting there in Solitary, probably just a-twiddling his thumbs.

Well, maybe it’s not that this particular day gets disrepected.  I mean, who’s going to disrespect old Odin’s day (Wodan’s dag)?  It’s just, well, the day that’s so normal it’s different. Think Wednesday Addams on the old TV show, named for a line in an old nursery rhyme:

Woe, yeah.  Odin carried out the dead, the grey traveler none wish to see.  Is this the day stuck in the middle, or simply stuck?  Purgatory even?  Consider the more-brooding modern Christina Riccci version of Wednesday Addams. The poor girl was so even tempered that a simple smile in that silly movie throws the universe off kilter.

Johnny Cash in many ways embodies the age-old battle between good and good enough.  He might even have had this in mind with his song “Wednesday Car” (off The Rambler) .

On Wednesday they’re feelin’ fine again
And they’re workin’ like a dog and diggin’ in
Tryin’ to do everything they should puttin’ ’em cars together good

Maybe Wednesday—the “normal” day—is the only day worth worrying about. Sherry Austin, over on the west coast, has a nice little song called “Hump Day Roses”. The jist is that you don’t need a special occasion to buy flowers. Wednesday is good enough.  Good enough for me, and Odin, and Johnny, too.

Got me a car that was made on Wednesday
If you’re gonna boy yourself a new car
You just better hope you’re lucky enough to get one made on Wednesday

So for all of us that have never quite fit in, never quite felt “normal”, well, at least we’ve got Wednesday.

.