h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I've been lucky enough to have *not* belonged to the first group (work over the weekend or be fired), although I've seen it happen firsthand to a co-worker a very long time ago. There's a graphics house in New York, which made a good dollar preparing camera-ready artwork and photographs sent in by various advertising clients, and an even better dollar off "rush" jobs. One Friday night (close of business was 7:00 pm), one of the staff was grabbed literally on her way out the door, and was told to come in Saturday, as a rush job had *just* come in, and needed to be ready first thing Monday morning. She said she had already made plans to spend the weekend with some friends out East on Long Island. She was told "be here tomorrow, or don't come in on Monday". Period, end of story. Everyone hated working there, and I almost sent my ex-boss flowers when she fired me a month later.

I *have* been lucky enough to belong to the *second* group (dropping by to clean up a few things). My current job as a computer programmer keeps me busy year-round, but the Systems Department is especially busy from mid-Fall through to mid-Spring. The occassional late night and Saturday are expected, but (believe it or not) we are actually paid for the additional time we put in (straight time, not time and a half, but hey, I'll take it!) There's usually at least one or two manager-level associates around on weekends, so they'll send out for lunch, too. The atmosphere is much more relaxed than during the week, and the phone's are generally quieter, too.