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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not understand why some people think Sunday is the first day of the week?

64 replies

moutonfou · 30/10/2017 12:22

Speaking in the context of UK society (i.e. dominant religion is Christianity, or debatably now atheism... )

It makes no sense culturally, because why would the week start halfway through the weekend?

It makes no sense religiously, because surely we're taught that God made the world in 6 days, and rested on the final day. Hence, we too rest on the final day. Why would the week start on the day God finished?

Is there something I'm missing?

OP posts:
AnneLovesGilbert · 30/10/2017 12:23

It's incredibly annoying.

tellitlikeitispls · 30/10/2017 12:27

Because they haven't realised it isn't any more. Traditionally it was of course. I was always taught that by my nan. However' officially', its Monday and has been since the late 80s en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ISO_8601

jeaux90 · 30/10/2017 12:27

Why does it matter what people think is the start of the week unless you work out in the Middle East for example.

treaclesoda · 30/10/2017 12:28

It's what I was taught at primary school but I've never understood it. I've always considered the first day of the week to be Monday.

StorminaBcup · 30/10/2017 12:30

I didn’t til I worked in retail. All the weeks banking is done on a Saturday so Sunday is the start of the week. Perhaps it’s an overspill from this?

MyOtherProfile · 30/10/2017 12:31

Because traditionally the day of rest was the saturday. That was the sabbath and the day God rested after creating the world, according to Jewish and Christian beliefs. Then the week started again with the Sunday. So the idea is I guess that the weekend is made up of the two ends of the week... front end and back end.

Eolian · 30/10/2017 12:33

In America it seems to be the norm that the week starts on a Sunday. I'm on various journalling FB groups and all of the Americans start their weekly journal page on a Sunday. It seems completely illogical to me. Surely it's called the weekEND for a reason?!

Catwithglasses · 30/10/2017 12:33

Never actually considered the why, but it is irritating: I have to check calendars before buying because I dislike the split.

MyOtherProfile · 30/10/2017 12:34

Eolian see my post just above yours. Because of the strong Jewish/Christian tradition in US they go for Sunday being the start.

GhostlyKiwi · 30/10/2017 12:34

Saturday is the last day of the week - Jews celebrate on the Sabbath day (Saturday) as that was the day God rested.

Sunday is the first day of the week, and Christians go to church on that day because that's when Jesus rose from the dead.

Fink · 30/10/2017 12:39

As you said, the dominant religion culturally in the UK was Christianity. In Christianity, Sunday is the first day of the week.

The Jewish Sabbath (Saturday) is considered by Christians to be the last day of the week. Jesus's resurrection was on the first/eighth day (theologically significant but probably not what you're concerned about now), therefore that's the day Christians keep as holy but it's not the last day of the week.

mirime · 30/10/2017 12:41

For DH his week starts on a Sunday as that's when his work week starts (retail), for me it's Monday as that's when my work week starts.

peachy94 · 30/10/2017 12:41

Our work rota used to do this, it drove me insane esp because they could use it to their advantage to get people to work the whole weekend because it was 2 separate weeks

Eolian · 30/10/2017 12:44

Yes, I see, MyOtherProfile. I wonder if they will eventually stop doing it then. I know that there are large swathes of the U.S. which are still very religious, but I imagine they are still experiencing a general decline in churchgoing.

The Sunday/Monday thing is often mentioned on the journalling groups, and few of the American members seem to know why they start on a Sunday. Many are surprised to learn that other countries don't, and they often on reflection say it makes far more sense to start on a Monday!

DiegoMadonna · 30/10/2017 12:52

Sunday IS the first day of the week, traditionally. The only reason you think it's not is because our modern 5-day working week goes from Monday to Friday. But the calendar is considerably older than our modern 5-day working week.

So YABU OP, sorry.

redexpat · 30/10/2017 13:00

I thought it was because on the first day god created light, so SUNday corresponds to that.

Laughsandgiggles · 30/10/2017 13:01

This annoys me! I presume this is why some calendars start with Sunday - absolutely mental when trying to sort out weekend stuff and Sunday is at start and Saturday at end!! They should be next to each other at all times grrrrr

InvisibleKittenAttack · 30/10/2017 13:01

It does make sense religiously, as the last day of the week was saturday, which is why Jewish people have that as their holy day, however as Jesus rose on the Sunday, Christians shifted their holy day to the Sunday.

But culturally yes, it should be Monday.

SignoraCarmignola · 30/10/2017 13:02

Isn't 'weekend' a relatively modern invention? I have some hazy memory of the Dowager Countess of Grantham* asking what a weekend was.

*Obviously she wasn't a real person so the writer could be wrong.

Viviennemary · 30/10/2017 13:05

I haven't really thought about this. I only think Sunday is the first day because it's what I was told. And if I'm starting a diet or having a new housework regime it's always Monday never Sunday. Though it doesn't usually start on any day.

NecrotisingDisaster · 30/10/2017 13:06

YABU - as explained by PP, Sunday as the first day of the week does make sense in a religious context.

PortiaCastis · 30/10/2017 13:06

I'm Christian and my week starts on a Sunday I've never heard of anything different

ButchyRestingFace · 30/10/2017 13:07

However' officially', its Monday and has been since the late 80s

Mittens1969 · 30/10/2017 13:26

I believe the weekend is a very recent invention, nobody got 2 days off work historically! As PPs have said, there are clear religious reasons why Sunday is the first day of the week; Saturday was the seventh day under Judaism, the day that God rested after creation.

There are of course good cultural reasons to change the first day of the week to Monday.

8misskitty8 · 30/10/2017 13:29

Sunday is the first day of the week. You just have to look at gridded Calenders. Sunday is always on the left.

Retail sector shift Rotas are Sunday to Saturday.

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