曾經(jīng)看過(guò)一個(gè)小朋友畫(huà)的世界地圖：在地球上的各個(gè)區(qū)域?qū)懴滤麑?duì)那個(gè)地方的印象，而在歐洲大陸的位置寫(xiě)下的是這么一句話(huà)：不用上班天天喝下午茶的地方——的確，歐洲完善的社會(huì)福利一直被人津津樂(lè)道，但作為一個(gè)“外人”，第一次真正見(jiàn)識(shí)還是未免被雷到。

記得那是剛到英國(guó)不久的某一天，我要去超市補(bǔ)充口糧。走到Town Centre，居然發(fā)現(xiàn)偌大一個(gè)超市關(guān)門(mén)大吉。我定神一想，確定當(dāng)日是正常工作日、并且是上班時(shí)間，那這關(guān)門(mén)又是個(gè)什么說(shuō)法？

后來(lái)朋友告訴我，這一天是Bank Holiday，銀行假期，正正經(jīng)經(jīng)的公眾假期，和圣誕節(jié)、復(fù)活節(jié)等等其他假日一樣是被寫(xiě)進(jìn)法律條文的。而且最荒謬，銀行假期一年還不止一天。在英格蘭，寫(xiě)進(jìn)法律的永久性公眾假期一共是8天，而這8天中就有3天都是bank holiday。在這幾天里，全國(guó)的銀行都休假，而其他很多與銀行業(yè)相關(guān)的產(chǎn)業(yè)也隨之關(guān)門(mén)大吉，其中，就包括超市。

長(zhǎng)這么大，聽(tīng)說(shuō)過(guò)教師節(jié)、護(hù)士節(jié)，從來(lái)不覺(jué)得銀行業(yè)有多么崇高、竟然要國(guó)家為他們單獨(dú)設(shè)立假日，那么這個(gè)Bank Holiday是怎么來(lái)的呢？

Origins of bank holidays

Prior to 1834, the Bank of England observed about 33 saints' days and religious festivals as holidays, but in 1834, this was reduced to just four: 1 May, 1 November, Good Friday, and Christmas Day.

In 1871, Sir John Lubbock introduced the Bank Holidays Act, it introduced the concept of holidays with pay and designated four holidays in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and five in Scotland. The move was such a popular one and there were even suggestions that August Bank Holiday should be called St Lubbock's day!

In the United Kingdom and Ireland a bank holiday is a public holiday, when banks and many other businesses are closed for the day.

Bank holidays are often assumed to be so called because they are days upon which banks are shut, but days that banks are shut aren't always bank holidays. For example: Good Friday and Christmas Day are not bank holidays, they are common law' holidays. The dates for bank holidays are set out in statute or are proclaimed by royal decree. In England and Wales a bank holiday tends automatically to be a public holiday, so the day is generally observed as a holiday.

也就是說(shuō)，以前一到Bank Holiday全國(guó)所有的行業(yè)都休假。不過(guò)現(xiàn)在，也有很多行業(yè)，比如公共交通系統(tǒng)、博物館、動(dòng)物園等等照舊開(kāi)放。其實(shí)說(shuō)穿了，Bank Holiday就是國(guó)家想出來(lái)的名目，讓全國(guó)人民都偷閑偷閑。再想想我國(guó)近年也多出了很多公眾假期——端午、中秋——比用“銀行”的名義放假實(shí)在好聽(tīng)多了，這就是文明古國(guó)的好處哇！