Another Saturday night, and I ain't got nobody

Saturday nights, 1979-81

My father worked most Saturday nights during this time, and I'm frankly at a loss at what I did to pass the time when I was a kid during these years. In the summer, I'm sure I was playing outside until it got dark (and sometimes past dark, my mother didn't like when we'd play Jailbreak -- think Kick the Can without a can -- and run through alleys). but the rest of the year, if I wasn't by a friend's house, Saturday nights were, maybe, bleak, especially during the winter.

This was before cable, so our TV options were limited: "The Love Boat" and "Fantasy Island," but sometimes I wouldn't be in the mood. Perhaps I'd watch "Wild Kingdom" or a basketball game. Or, maybe I put on a movie on our Betamax. We owned only one car, so Mom didn't take us out on Saturday nights. We wouldn't have an Atari until November 1981, so that wasn't an issue, and I'd be lucky if I could get my sister to play a board game.

What I remember most is our house would be somewhat dark. I have an image of our living room with just one lamp on and the kitchen with just one light on. And winter nights in Chicago are dark as hell. Mom sent me to bed at 10, maybe 10:15 if she'd let me watch the news, and she might stay up and watch "Saturday Night Live "(which wasn't great during this time). 

The rest of the week had more varied TV and homework and occasional activities (e.g., basketball, roller skating) to occupy my time. By 1982, those Saturday nights weren't so bleak. Dad seemed to have more Saturday nights off, and we'd go to a YMCA we belonged to and I'd shoot around while the girls swam, and we might go out for food after. I was older, so I could go to a friend's house who lived farther away and still walk home (or sleep over). And with the Atari, I could occupy hours playing instead of languishing in the dark.

If I was bored, I imagine Mom was bored, too. But still, it might have just been Saturdays not living up to lofty expectations -- even as a 9-year-old.

Saturday nights, 1996-2000

When Lori and I moved to Madison, I was working for an afternoon paper that didn't have a Sunday edition. That meant I had every Saturday night off. I sort of enjoyed that in Milwaukee when working for the Sentinel, which also didn't have a Sunday edition, but in Madison, those Saturdays were different.

Admittedly, Saturdays were wild in Milwaukee. If Lori and I weren't doing something, I'd likely be out with my friends. Those friends didn't live in Madison, so Saturday nights were a little mellower. Yes, Lori and I saw a lot of movies and hung out with our Madison friends, but it wasn't as mandatory.

However, my work schedule often got in the way of Saturday night. Though we were an afternoon paper during the week, on Saturday we were a morning paper. So I worked Friday nights, usually really late, because The Capital Times had to wait for our sister paper, the Wisconsin State Journal, to get off the presses before we can put the edition to bed. So I would start at 8 p.m. and not finish up until at least 1 a.m., usually 2 a.m., but sometimes as late as 3:30 a.m. I would come home and need to get 24 hours sleep over the next 48 hours or so when I would return to work at 5:30 a.m. Monday morning.

I wouldn't sleep late on Saturdays, either -- and honestly, Lori and I had great Saturdays in Madison, filled with shopping and exploring and enjoying a great city. By Saturday night, though, I sometimes hit the wall. Maybe I'd watch SNL, but mostly, I'd try to get back on my normal (though annoying) sleep schedule. 

Sometimes I powered through the sleepy Saturday night, and I wouldn't work the crazy Friday night every weekend (about two of every three). Eventually, we moved to Utah and I worked every Saturday night. 

A Saturday night, 2011

After kids, and after I pulled back to part-time at the newspaper, I had some Saturday nights off. The kids would be in bed early, and Lori would be out by 9 p.m., too, so I'd be on my own for the rest of the evening.

I played a lot of video games or watched sports during this time, and I was cool with that. Occasionally, I'd work on freelance editing tasks, and for one Saturday in late summer in 2011, it got the best of me.

Working in my office in the basement, my will quickly drained. I had no one awake and felt a little lonely. I came back upstairs, turned on DirecTV, and flipped channels not to find something interesting to watch, but instead, infomercials. I had lost any base interest in anything and sought comfort in a Dean Martin Roasts informerical followed up by a Time-Life Series of the best mellow songs of all time (most of which I already had on CD from Time-Life from the '90s).  

This Saturday night broke me. At least when I worked Saturday nights, I worked Saturday nights. I suppose I could get this uninspired any night of the week -- in fact, I know I have and still do. But this Saturday still stands out in my brain nearly 15 years later.

Saturday nights, 2020-2026 

Starting during the pandemic, my high school friends and I started a Saturday night "happy hour" video call. It has been a great way to cap off the week while getting face time with the best friends I've ever had. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood to get on a call -- and my friends are the same way, too. But the option is always there, and it feels like the 1990s again hanging with friends on a Saturday night.

And most importantly, Saturday nights don't feel lonely.