Post-Turkey Hangover: Why This Might Be The Most Miserable Monday On The Calendar
We can get through this day together, people!
For 99% of the workforce, today is a pretty tough day.
I mean, Mondays in general can be brutal, but this Monday in particular has some extra bite to it.
It’s the Monday after Thanksgiving weekend, which means everyone going back to work or school today has to do so while giving up days on end of eating too much, drinking too much, and watching way too many football games (though I’d argue there’s no such thing).
We all spent the last week or so stuffing our faces with crappy food and Thanksgiving leftovers while rotting on our couch, so the mere thought of returning to a normal routine is nauseating (or maybe that’s the four-day-old turkey sitting heavy in our guts, but I digress).
I consider myself one of the lucky few who gets to do a job he truly loves – plus I worked over the weekend – so the transition back to a normal work week is a lot more palatable for me. But it had me asking the question: is this the worst Monday of the year?
I don’t mean today, Dec. 1, 2025, specifically, but the Monday following Thanksgiving weekend in general.
I think the argument could certainly be made for a few others, but today is clearly on the Mount Rushmore of bad Mondays.
Sure, there’s always the Monday after the Super Bowl, a day so awful that many have campaigned to turn it into a national holiday for a day off. But the Super Bowl is only one day, whereas Thanksgiving weekend starts in earnest around Wednesday and doesn’t end until Sunday.
In that vein, how about the first Monday after New Year’s?
New Year’s Day falls on a random day every year, but the first real Monday of the new year is about as depressing as it gets. You’re coming off a two-week high from the buildup to Christmas, followed by that magical week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve when no one does anything and time seems to stand still.
For kids, it has to be the first Monday of the school year.
Summer is over, your sleep routine is in absolute shambles, and now you have to sit in a classroom for hours on end instead of in front of a TV screen or at summer camp.
Regardless of which Monday is really the worst, I think we can all agree a day like today is a rough one.
Keep that in mind and help out your fellow man today.
There’s a good chance he’s just as bummed as you are about his weekend of gluttony and football consumption coming to an abrupt end.
We can get through this together, folks.