i Assistant Editor's Letter: Bank Holiday? I'll be in the newsroom

If ever you needed evidence that I didn’t go to Eton, you should have seen me trying to work out the little teaser on page 2 of Saturday’s paper. I declined to give an answer – mostly because I was scared of the backlash if I got it wrong!

So, in true Match of the Day style, if you don’t want to know, skip the last line of this column. Apologies to those who expressed frustration at not being given the answer immediately, I wanted to give you the chance of spending the sunny bank holiday weekend working it out.

As Alice Jones wrote in her Saturday column, there’s nothing better than a free day off work. It would be nice if the weather could be a bit better, but you can’t grumble too much. Except that for many people, it isn’t even a day off, let alone a free one.

From the emergency services, train and bus drivers, to shop assistants and journalists, there are too many professions to name. It sometimes seems that the only people that do get bank holidays off are the people who work in banks. I will be here, in my (open plan) office, with a few others putting together Tuesday’s paper – a lot of work for 20p!

Of course, all of the above often work on Sundays as well. We take it for granted that we can get up on a Sunday, jump on the bus, go to the shops, buy a paper (put together by those working on Saturday), call an ambulance if needed, and many more things that are no more difficult than during the week.

Aside from the employees that spend everyone else’s day off at work, think also of the families at home, the children looking forward to spending time with mum and dad and the “single” parent for the day being left to pick up the pieces of disappointment.

So when you’re wondering if today is Bank Holiday Monday, what is the day that follows the day that comes after the day that comes before the day before yesterday, spare a thought for those who don’t have the day off to work it out.

(Answer: yesterday)

Twitter.com: @jonesrhodri