曾经看过一个小朋友画的世界地图：在地球上的各个区域写下他对那个地方的印象，而在欧洲大陆的位置写下的是这么一句话：不用上班天天喝下午茶的地方——的确，欧洲完善的社会福利一直被人津津乐道，但作为一个“外人”，第一次真正见识还是未免被雷到。

记得那是刚到英国不久的某一天，我要去超市补充口粮。走到Town Centre，居然发现偌大一个超市关门大吉。我定神一想，确定当日是正常工作日、并且是上班时间，那这关门又是个什么说法？

后来朋友告诉我，这一天是Bank Holiday，银行假期，正正经经的公众假期，和圣诞节、复活节等等其他假日一样是被写进法律条文的。而且最荒谬，银行假期一年还不止一天。在英格兰，写进法律的永久性公众假期一共是8天，而这8天中就有3天都是bank holiday。在这几天里，全国的银行都休假，而其他很多与银行业相关的产业也随之关门大吉，其中，就包括超市。

长这么大，听说过教师节、护士节，从来不觉得银行业有多么崇高、竟然要国家为他们单独设立假日，那么这个Bank Holiday是怎么来的呢？

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.

也就是说，以前一到Bank Holiday全国所有的行业都休假。不过现在，也有很多行业，比如公共交通系统、博物馆、动物园等等照旧开放。其实说穿了，Bank Holiday就是国家想出来的名目，让全国人民都偷闲偷闲。再想想我国近年也多出了很多公众假期——端午、中秋——比用“银行”的名义放假实在好听多了，这就是文明古国的好处哇！