Monochrome Monday (50 shades of shed)

I'm pretty sure that if I surveyed my fellow commuters (surfers or not) on this bleak Monday, it would be a safe bet that the majority don't like Mondays. Despite the advances in education, literacy, hygiene, science, the aRts and technology, the modern mega-corporation is really no different to the feudal system of centuries yore, where a select few wielded massive power and the masses toiled away, out of sight and out of history's pages.
Except now, some of us who get two days off each week.

What's worse than saddling up to ride to work on a Monday after a great weekend away from the manipulative manoeuvres of the pseudo-sincere? How about having to saddle up after a weekend of one or a combination of the following: grief, depression, high blood pressure, grog, drug or tobacco abuse, post-traumatic syndrome?

Or what about being a middle-aged bloke and waking up on a Monday only to remember that you have no work to go to because you have recently become another statistic in the world's nihilistic short-sighted race for quick profits via outsourcing, down sizing and all manner of corporate conniptions, aka "increasing productivity". Or maybe, all of the above plus you are socially awkward or introverted.

I'm assuming here the surf is flatter than our hypothetical bloke's spirits, so stay with me as I untangle this thread of thinking. Into these situations a new Aussie phenomenon has been slowly courting an increasing number of sedentary and disengaged fellas. It's the humble, iconic men's shed.
The Shed has replaced the pub as the place for these men to connect, learn stuff and share feelings. "Crikey,  harden up, sunshine!", I hear you bellow in your best Paul Hogan voices. Maybe blokes are always tough and happy in your universe. So why don't the statistics reflect our culture of mateship and camaraderie? Despite what the advertising barons sell us, male suicide and untreated depression are way too high in The Lucky Country. Ar we too afraid to ask for help?

So if your Dad, Uncle, Grandpop, mate who got retrenched, brother-in-law accidentally falls through the safety net of mateship, put them in touch with The Shed online or in person. Additional information about these issues at Beyond Blue - a brilliant mob. Reclaim the stoke.