Then We Can Begin

Saturday night is when everything from the week stops mattering. Whatever was supposed to happen either did or it didn’t, and now there’s just the night itself—no obligations, no guilt, no waiting. The Germans have this phrase: Dann kann’s ja losgehen. Then we can get started. You feel it happening around nine o’clock, when the air shifts and people move a little faster, a little looser, like something’s finally been released.