the watch of time

This is the Labour Day weekend, AKA the last holiday weekend of summer, AKA the last days of freedom for many young people before starting or returning to school.

The complexion of neighbourhood activity takes on a less hectic daytime hue with so many, once again, becoming cooped up in indoor facilities.

Therefore, this weekend is an opportunity to review how the diversions of summer have merged into resetting sights on the change of seasons and activities ahead – a time to consider some salient statistics…

• Pets will see a 32% decline in attention, with much of the balance concentrated in early and later parts of the day; pet owners will attempt to compensate with 21% more treats
• Parks will have only a 12% decline in daytime use, as the reduced volume of users is partly compensated by longer periods utilized by people who prefer more quiet surroundings
• Eyes will incur 29% more daytime strain, as time formerly devoted to relaxation and leisurely program watching on larger screens shifts to smaller, mobile devices and business computers
• Due to school and business codes, clothes with primarily blue, gray, or black patterns return to dominance
• Time spent eating a typical fast foods lunch will decline by ten minutes, as the laid-back attitude of summer is replaced by the more hectic seasons that follow
• Families with school age children will experience up to a 30% increase in stress due to attempts to enforce earlier hours of going to bed and getting up
• Retailers will be 15% more likely to try to get an even earlier promotional start on shopping for the December holiday season
• There will be at least 18% more ‘best time of the year to buy’ auto dealer promotions than in earlier seasons
• Inconvenience due to urban roadway projects will be 22% more than ‘experts’ predict, and take up to 44% longer than initially assured
• Time spent expounding statistics will bounce back from the 25.4% decline during summer, as the majority of compilers and users return to a heavier use of desks, sifting facts and figures

It seems that the labour movement, nominally the focus of the holiday, has a much wider definition this time of the year.