# Is Midnight Friday, Friday at 12 am or Sat at 12 am? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 13, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231 "2002-09-13T05:19:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/1 "2002-09-13T05:19:29Z")
The reason I’m asking is because I got a parking ticket and the sign reads no parking Midnight to 3am Mon, Wed, and Friday. Of course I though midnight Friday was Friday evening or Saturday at 12 am. Teeming millions, what say you? ---
**Author:** ![NightRabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbce88/32.png) [@NightRabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NightRabbit)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/2 "2002-09-13T05:34:43Z")
I was always under the impression that Friday ends at 11:59:59pm and Saturday begins at 12:00:00am. ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/3 "2002-09-13T05:34:52Z")
Most people think of any time of the night as belonging to the day that started the night; e.g. evening begins around 6:30 pm Friday so all night times belong to Friday until dawn _when not specifially referring to clock positions_. IOW, if I say I got up in the middle of Friday night, I may be referring to a time that actually occurred at 1:00 am this morning (Saturday). You generally don’t hear people say “I got up at 1:00 am Friday night.” In your example they are referring to a specific time, 12:00 am, except they are using midnight to refer to it (probably a bad idea, as you can see). If you replace midnight with 12:00 am on the sign, it then becomes clear. The preceding day always ends at 11:59:59 pm and 12:00:00 am belongs to the coming day. You should have gotten a ticket only if you were parked there between 12:00 am and 3:00 am Friday morning. ---
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/4 "2002-09-13T07:17:00Z")
Well I did get a ticket for parking there after 12:00:00 am which is Friday morning. IMO, the sign is ambiguous if it says midnight. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/5 "2002-09-13T11:09:18Z")
Well, you wouldn’t argue when 3am on Friday was, would you? No, it’s completely unambiguous. Therefore, so is “midnight - 3am” - if the 3am in question is on Friday morning, then the midnight must be earlier, and therefore on the Thursday/Friday night rather than the Friday/Saturday night. What I want to know is where the heck is this place which prohibits parking only in the early hours of certain weekdays? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/6 "2002-09-13T11:13:52Z")
Lots of places, often in large cities where commuter routes can become blocked with traffic if vehicles are parked or loading/unloading during rush hour. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/7 "2002-09-13T11:25:11Z")
Absolutely, but since when has midnight-3am been rush hour? ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/8 "2002-09-13T11:29:08Z")
Good point - maybe it’s a noise-related regulation (discourage private traffic by penalising parking in the area). ---
**Author:** ![Stana\_Claus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stana_claus/32/13874_2.png) [@Stana\_Claus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stana_Claus)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/9 "2002-09-13T13:10:54Z")
Think street sweepers. Most major metropolitan areas, if they clean the streets at all, do so in the wee early morning hours. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2002, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/10 "2002-09-13T16:34:45Z")
/travel guru hat ON/ In the travel biz, we think of it this way… 11:59pm Friday night 12:00m Friday night 12:01am Saturday Morning Midnight and Noon hold neither AM nor PM disctintions, as they are the dividing lines between the two. /travel guru hat OFF/ IMHO, the sign should be more specific… “No parking 12:01am to 3:00am, Mon, Wed & Fri.” ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/11 "2002-09-14T01:04:21Z")
No parking midnight until 3am on Friday…hmmm. Then that midnight is one minute after 11:59pm Thursday. How is that ambigious? Even if the midnight threw you, the 3am on Friday is obvious enough. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2002, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-midnight-friday-friday-at-12-am-or-sat-at-12-am/128231/12 "2002-09-14T06:31:02Z")
[**GrizzRich**](http://greenwichmeantime.com/info/noon.htm) gets the brass ring.😃