TWaT culture be damned, I miss Friday night fun

Thank God it’s Friday? Not quite like we used to, it seems. New stats show Fridays are now almost as quiet as weekends in the City of London. Footfall elsewhere in the capital is down too.

Having got used to it during lockdowns, most people now only go to the office on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays, making us TWaTs (not a slur, just the acronym). Working from home is great: staying in bed until the last possible moment, or not getting out at all. But what’s lost is the kind of fun Friday night that’s made extra cathartic by being set free from the office after a hard week of work.

We were told once that Thursdays were the new Fridays. But it’s not the same. On Thursday, there’s always one eye on tomorrow’s hangover. You can’t stay out into the small hours, fall asleep on the Tube ride home and spend the next day staring at the wall in the same way. Or you can, but it’s less pleasurable and may breach your contract. Also, there is just less reason to celebrate on a Thursday, meaning the mood is muted, and the drinks seem less frequent.

The mutation of Friday pints is likely also changing who we socialise with. Instead of being thrown together with people from the office — for better or, let’s face it, often for worse — we are more likely to meet friends near home. While that benefits local hubs, it’s worse for new arrivals to the capital who want to meet new people.

Now it may be fading away, wasn’t there something wonderful about having too many beers with colleagues you have nothing in common with, regretting your decisions for the rest of the weekend, and then avoiding someone from marketing for the rest of the year? It could be the misery of the Dry January I’m enduring that’s speaking for me, but I’m starting to think there was.

Because fewer people are going out on Friday, it’s a good time to try something new. Our esteemed food and drink editor David Ellis tells me it’s easier to get into previously exclusive venues on Fridays, as other punters stay away.

I’m not suggesting forced fun. Last Friday, I avoided the drizzle with a takeaway and series two of The White Lotus (I regret nothing). Others report they went out and had a good time. It doesn’t have to be every week, but given we can in 2023, let’s bring back those Friday nights.