Laughter. Ice Cream. A long walk. A stiff drink. A day well done. That sounds like playing hooky to me!
You know those days when you can’t stand it anymore? I’m talking about the day after that, when you just have to do something about. Ah the siren song of hooky.
What is the origin of the word hooky, I ask myself. It sounds like a made-up word to me. A word associated with the bad kids at school. You know, the ones who would sneak off to the basketball courts to smoke cigarettes during third period.
As we all know, hooky is simply staying away from one’s obligations without permission—or explanation. Talk about a resistance strategy! I love the guilty pleasure of hooky. The goofy word that defines it and the sense of earned freedom. And so it was, that I took a restorative day of shooting the breeze, during an aimless wander on a bright cold sunny day.
The worst thing about hooky? The morning after. It turns out the only limitation of hooky is that the obligations don’t take the same day off! I think I’ll do one more thing that makes me smile. Yes! Look up the origin of hooky. It must have one serious back story.
Ha! Even hooky plays hooky. Hooky is a mid-19th century word from the US—of unknown origin. Perfect.