Who Are the People Walking Their Dogs on Weekday Afternoons?

There are actually people walking their dogs on weekday afternoons. Don't they have to go to work?

Last night, I came across an interview with people who were walking their dogs instead of working on weekday afternoons. Let's see what kinds of people they are. There are three main types in total.

1. Freelancers or entrepreneurs.
2. Workers on days off. Some of them even bring their laptops when walking their dogs.
3. People who have quit their jobs. There are those who have been unemployed for a few months or even half a year.

The first type of people make money on their own and don't have to punch in and out like regular office workers. There are quite a lot of such people, like some bloggers and self - employed individuals with their own businesses.

The advantage of this kind of work is that making money is not restricted by time and space. It's relatively more free.

However, this so - called freedom doesn't mean having a lot of free time. Sometimes, for freelancers, the time they can actually control is quite limited. They can't even distinguish between work and life.

After all, if they don't work, they may have no income.

But if they can build their own passive income channels, that would be really great. They only need to work one or two hours or two or three hours a day, and the rest of the time can be used for rest.

But if they rely entirely on putting in time and physical strength to make money, there's not much freedom at all. They may even be more tired than office workers.

The second type of people on days off can generally be divided into two situations. One is taking days off voluntarily, and the other is taking days off involuntarily.

Taking days off voluntarily could be, for example, seeing that the weather has been nice recently and wanting to go out for a walk, or deliberately taking some time off to go on a trip.

Taking days off involuntarily may be because they were extremely busy at work before and worked a lot of overtime, so they have time to rest later.

This situation is quite common. After all, not everyone has a fixed working time. Some people's working hours are relatively flexible.

The advantage of taking days off is that you can avoid the peak travel times, which is especially suitable for traveling.

The third type is people who have quit their jobs or are unemployed. Some people have just quit their jobs not long ago, and they want to take a good rest for a month or two to relax.

Maybe their previous job was too tiring, and they still have some savings and no other major pressures, so they just take a break for a while. This situation is very common. Some of my classmates or friends often take two months off after quitting their jobs. Some can even enjoy themselves for half a year.

There are also those who take a break for half a year or even up to a year.

This may be because they have good family conditions and don't need to worry about money; or they are still young and not in a hurry to make money; or they have no current pressure and want to do what they want to do and just have fun to their heart's content.

There's also a passive situation, which is that they just can't find a job they're satisfied with, so they just stop looking for the time being.

But generally speaking, this type of people probably don't have obvious pressure at present.

If they have the pressure of making money to survive, it's unlikely that they would take a few months off after quitting their jobs.

Even if they can't find a good job, they will first do some part - time jobs to earn some money.

On weekday afternoons, there are really fewer people on the subway and fewer pedestrians on the road.

Several times when I took a day off or had a day off on a weekday, I felt like I was in a completely different world.

Of course, if you go to some commercial areas, shopping streets, or tourist attractions, there are still quite a lot of people.

In Guangzhou, there are some tourist attractions where many people go to take pictures, whether it's on weekday evenings or on weekends.

In big cities, it seems quite a luxury to soak up the sun.

There is almost no time to soak up the sun during work, unless you can go out for a walk during the lunch break.

It's no exaggeration to say that the sun in big cities also comes with a cost. You see, water costs money, and actually, the sun also costs money in a disguised way. Even the air, to some extent, has a cost.

If you want to rent a well - lit apartment in a big city, it will definitely cost a lot more.

Take my rental place for example. I have to turn on the lights during the day, and I can hardly get any sunlight.

If I want to soak up the sun, I basically can only go out for a walk or play ball on weekends.

Since I finished my internship and started working full - time, I've never stopped.

I don't have the experience of taking a complete break for a month or two. To be honest, I can hardly imagine what I would do if I really took a complete break for a month or two.

I would probably still try to do something. Especially after starting a side hustle, even if I don't go out to look for a job, I will definitely find a way to make some money.

I have a relatively high sense of crisis. The advantages and disadvantages are quite obvious.

If I really lose my job, whether it's because I quit voluntarily or was laid off by the company, if the financial pressure isn't too great, I can take a little break.

However, I still have to pay for things like medical insurance. After all, medical insurance is still very useful in life.

It's hard to say about social security, but I should try my best to pay for it myself and not let it lapse.

If there's a chance to learn about different ways of life, even if you can't experience them all yourself, you can get to know such people and see how they live.

Maybe it will be of some reference value to you. Maybe someone's life state is what you aspire to.

Daily Reading & Writing by Xiaolu 05/07/2025 [Day 611]