Respect Authority

A Weisure Suit

I must document this for the sheer fact that I’m pretty sure CNN will realize its massive mistake and delete this article at some point, thereby negating the fact today is the day they butchered journalism once and for all. 

(CNN) — The line dividing work and leisure time is blurring right before our eyes, says one expert, and it’s creating a phenomenon called “weisure time.”

Many who haven’t already abandoned the 9-to-5 workday for the 24-7 life of weisure probably will do so soon, according to New York University sociologist Dalton Conley, who coined the word. It’s the next step in the evolving work-life culture.

“Increasingly, it’s not clear what constitutes work and what constitutes fun,” be it “in an office or at home or out in the street,” Conley said. Activities and social spaces are becoming work-play ambiguous, he says, as “all of these worlds that were once very distinct are now blurring together.”

I’m sorry, what? WEISURE TIME? Conley, or CNN, or someone idiotic, speculates that people are increasingly willing to let work into their leisure time because working has become — get this — more fun! Not because work has become more demanding, or difficult, or because advanced technology makes it borderline impossible to “unplug” from the office, but because everyone’s just having so much gosh darn fun they can’t bear the thought of taking a few hours to themselves — to see a movie, ride a bike, masturbate, whatever. 

The culprit? Social networking. (What ISN’T social networking negatively responsible for these days?) Sites like Facebook, MySpace and Twitter have blurred the line between “work time” and “fun time” — which means its not so uncommon to notice your coworker updated their Facebook status three times at work yesterday. 

I have no problem agreeing with the facts here — I write blog posts at the office, I check my work e-mail at home and possession of a Blackberry has turned me into a slave to immediate gratification. But none of that makes it okay to assume cause or effect, and nothing in the past, present or future of mixing work and play would make it okay to use the word “weisure.”