Which day of the week is the hardest to get dumped on?

Here is a question.

What day of the week is the hardest to get dumped on?

It sounds like a riddle, but I want you to think about it seriously for a moment.

The answer is Tuesday. More specifically, a Tuesday right at the beginning of the new fiscal year... or at least, that is what I personally believe.

I have been dumped on a Friday before, and I have been dumped on a Sunday, but Tuesday was more painful than any other day.

Back when I was a fresh graduate, a trainee who hadn't even been assigned to a department yet. Even though I was filled with great anxiety, I had become completely comfortable with my peers through our daily training, and I was living a fulfilling life that felt like a continuation of my youth.

On the other hand, I graduated from university in March 2011, a time when all of Japan was in chaos and deep sorrow. My university friends and I were unable to have a proper farewell because both the graduation ceremony and the send-off party were canceled.

In particular, I had been looking forward to the club's send-off party, watching the seniors and thinking, 'Someday, when it's my turn, the underclassmen will send me off like this too,' so the shock was immense.

Even so, a 'new student welcome camp' for the club I belonged to was scheduled for May, and since graduated alumni were allowed to participate, I was working through my daily training looking forward to meeting my friends and underclassmen again after a long time.

It was a certain Monday, and I was fired up, thinking, 'Alright, I'll do my best in training this week too!' when I received a message from the guy I was dating at the time. He was an underclassman from my club, and he was supposed to be my boyfriend... but our relationship had gone cold. Looking at the frequency and content of his messages, I had somehow sensed that he didn't like me as a lover anymore.

It was Monday night when I got a message from him saying, 'Can I call you tomorrow night?' We didn't usually talk on the phone, so while I pretended to be calm, wondering why he was being so formal, I had a bad feeling about it.

The date changed to Tuesday. Even though the phone call was on my mind somewhere, I got through the day hanging out with my friends as usual. Finally, night came.
I'm already bad at phone calls, whether I'm the one calling or receiving... and to think I had to face such an unsettling call.

When I answered the call from him, the content was exactly what I had expected.

I've found someone else I like.
I want to break up.

I didn't have the energy to ask 'Why?' or 'Who is it?' Even though I should have been calm, thinking, 'Yeah, I knew it,' before I knew it, tears were streaming down my face. What is this? It's so pathetic. It's so frustrating. And above all, what kind of person breaks up over the phone?

After the call ended, while I was messaging a friend to tell them 'I got dumped' and having them comfort me, I suddenly realized something. Come to think of it, the welcome camp is this weekend.

'I'm sorry, I can't go to the welcome camp anymore.'

It was so long ago that I've forgotten whether it was via LINE or email, but I sent that to my peers with a blank mind.
Since I knew he was going and that the person he liked would be there, there was no way I could just show up. I had been looking forward to it, too.

I envy him for being able to participate in the training camp with his crush and friends, feeling completely refreshed.

I envy his girlfriend for being liked by someone like him.

I envy everyone who can participate in the training camp purely, without any lingering hard feelings.

While everyone is having fun, how on earth am I supposed to spend my time alone?

I felt so miserable; this isn't how I imagined starting my life as a working adult, and feelings of jealousy were swirling around inside me.

What I resented most was that after feeling this way, it was still only Tuesday. From tomorrow, through Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, I have to get through my training days with a fresh face, as if nothing had happened.

14 years have passed since then. Both he, who sparked my theory that "getting dumped on a Tuesday is the worst," and I are now married and have children.

If I think that it was only because we parted ways that we reached our current happiness, perhaps I should be grateful for that night filled with jealousy.

In the first place, the fact that I can even write about this on note is something I wouldn't have believed back then. That is thanks to the fact that I am now in a place where I can look back on that night with a lighthearted tone.

There is just one thing I would like to tell anyone planning to break up with someone: "If you're going to dump someone, the latter half of the week is better." Please consider doing it around Friday.

🗓

I wrote this on the theme of "jealousy" for this project by Jun Ikematsu, who is promoting Nami Saito's new series.

Everyone's work was excellent, and I participated with a pounding heart... Thank you for this valuable opportunity...!

You can find Nami Saito's new series here. As an only child, I have no experience with this, but I wonder if my husband, the eldest of four siblings, had a time like that... I wonder if there is a future where my daughter will have to go through such feelings... I read it while pondering these things...!