Our No-Vacation Nation

[Marypoza]

(03-27-2019, 06:52 PM)beechnut79 Wrote: Prime vacation season may still be a couple of months off, but some of you may be starting to think about this year's plans. Schools around me are out on spring break this year which may have slowed down food delivery sales this week even though this time usually doesn't affect much else outside of the schools. You may just feel like you need a break, you know there are things you could do but you don't have the energy to do them. Many of us not only can't afford the expense involved in taking a regular vacation of a week or more, we have been more or less brainwashed to believe that time not doing something productive is wasted time. Delivery of food has become popular as it seems as if for whatever reason so many choose not to even take a long enough time out to enjoy a sit down meal in a restaurant or perhaps even at home. Thoughts of "that's okay, tomorrow is another day, for now be kind to yourself and relax", has nearly become sinful in many folks' minds. Some of this may very well fall into the "we have met the enemy and it is us" category. I personally resisted the trend for many years but now when I think of perhaps going out, say, on a regular date, I question whether I can afford not only the monetary expense but the time expense as well. This whole "I don't have time" syndrome is, as I have often pointed out, is quite the opposite of what many pundits expected would happen with the advent of modern technology. Said technology has served to ratchet up expectations as opposed to actually saving people time. I recently had some unexpected disruptions in my own life, and that is why I have been a stranger to this site and a few others.

It was once said that nearly half of all US workers fail to use all of the vacation leave time they are entitled to, in many cases out of fear that they will be considered highly expendable if they do so. European workers, by contrast, have a much stronger culture of vacationing. Even traditionally workaholic Japan has surpassed us in the amount of vacation time taken. The outlook is no doubt made worse by the advent of the gig economy where you're independent contractors and not allotted any real vacation, sick leave, or other benefits. I recently talked with the owner or manager of a restaurant I sometimes pick up at, and he told me that, like it or not, the gig economy is going to be the wave of the future and that there will be fewer and fewer traditional jobs with full pay and benefits. This already began with the trend toward companies using more and more temporary workers out of staffing agencies.

So, are you planning to take any true vacations this year, or are you in the category that just can't afford to? In the spirit of full disclosure I tend to fall into the latter camp, although I may try to squeeze a couple of days away if I am lucky. While we're at it I may also seek out opinions as to whether we ever will become that society of increased leisure we were once all but promised.

-- it helps if you have family 2 stay with. This past January l visited my Aunt in FL who lives on A1A so that's really sweet. My layover point was with a cousin in Savannah so I got 2 visit that city 2. My niece in Houston in graduating Memorial Day weekend. I hope 2 make that as well. Another niece is getting married on Bourbon St in December. Definitely making that 1!!