Everybody's Working for the Weekend

When I first came to America the biggest culture shock to me (even more than having to pay an exorbitant price for health care) was the paltry vacation time and long working hours. Don't get me wrong - I like this country and it's a great place to be - I just believe working people should have more paid time off to relax, enjoy their families and basically live their lives. When was the last time you took time out to explore this wonderful continent? That ,in my book, constitutes true freedom. How is it possible to do all this with the average one to two week vacation time allotted to each person a year?

No wonder we're all rushing around like blue ass flies trying to get everything done before we even think of taking a break. After your boss reluctantly gives you one week off (there's no way you can take two consecutive weeks the office is way too busy for that) you then have to squeeze your whole life into seven days. Do you visit family? (That's more stressful than work sometimes!) Stay at home and do some DIY? (that wouldn't really be a vacation!) Go abroad? (way too expensive) Rent a Winnebago and travel cross country?

Go camping at the beach? Go to Disneyland? After allotting time to pack, organize a cat sitter, taking the dog to the kennels and driving/flying to your destination you're down to six days. It takes at least two days to unwind once you get there (more for some people) so now you're down to four. With four days left you begin to worry that you haven't much time left so you better make the most of it. If you're anything like me you'll frantically try and utilize all the free facilities or engage in all the activities you never get to do. Take a sauna, then down to the beach to catch some rays, splash around in the ocean (but not too deep in case there are sharks - I never got over Jaws!) rent a bike and ride it on the beach, rent a canoe for an hour, have a margarita at the tikki bar, then out to dinner in your best revealing summer dress to show off that lovely tan (unless, of course you're peeling from a sunburn - then you'd want to cover up!) In the end you're exhausted and not really, truly relaxing at all.

I can just hear some people exclaim "what a whining, spoiled, over-indulged foreign brat - a week's plenty of time - you've got to work for a living here!" My point is that we all do work for a living and really, when you compare working hours in this country to other industrialized nations - our work weeks are on average, much longer. Plus there are no set rules it seems. In my native Wales, the working week (for most jobs) is 37.5 hours - anything you work on top of that is overtime. The European Union, I heard, mandated that each worker receive four weeks vacation - some places offer more. At one of my jobs I had five weeks vacation time in addition to all the national holidays - two days at Christmas, two days at Easter and all the rest. Strange how we get more time off on religious festivals when we're a secular nation. And all this time off did not make us lazy. In the long run it makes you a better worker - well rested and less stressed.

I recall one of my husband's jobs (which he detested) where he had to work a whole year before getting a week off. Coming from Europe, spoiled from lengthy vacations and long, lingering lunch hours sipping red wine, I was naturally appalled. After living here a few weeks I found that it's a pretty common practice. He now works a job where he doesn't even get two consecutive days off. It wouldn't be so bad for us all, I suppose, if wages were high and costs were low. But it seems we are mostly working to make ends meet and keep up with the bills. We're still paying off a vacation in Florida from three years back and we didn't even spend that much! Half of us are not working for a living we're working just to scrape by and make the rent. We're two pay checks away from being homeless. It's taken them ten years to increase the minimum wage for goodness sake - how on earth do people manage on that?

We had the good fortune of visiting a beautiful beach resort recently (my in-laws were renting a condo there) and had one whole day to savor it - and we did. However most of the people enjoying the amenities were retirees. Nothing wrong with that, after all they've earned it after a lifetime of hard work and saving. But what struck me is that we've worked hard and are still broke just like a lot of thrity-somethings these days. Will we youngsters be able to save some of our income so we can actually enjoy relaxing at a resort when we've retired? Or, God forbid, actually enjoy some quality time when we're still young!

As citizens (or resident in my case - legal by the way!) and tax payers of a free, democratic and such a wealthy nation as America, we not only have the right to demand better we also deserve better. We're constantly told that we're fighting for our freedom and way of life. Is it worth fighting for a lifestyle that leaves us overworked, underpaid, dispensable, constantly worried about money, broke, bankrupt and disillusioned? (Now I don't want to comment on any war - that's another article - I wouldn't necessarily fight for any lifestyle, I'm just making a point here). You can possess a great work ethic and have free time. There's nothing wrong with working hard and then being rewarded with a good wage and time off.

What we all should do is calculate how much our time is worth - it's actually priceless and personally, I don't want to spend my precious youth just trying make ends meet and then reach retirement and wonder 'where did my youth go?' and then still have no money to show for it, because health care and all the other costs of living have skyrocketed. Gone is the golden age of our predecessors who are now enjoying the pleasures of the coast with their hard earned cash and social security checks. I'm trying to make it as a freelance writer/producer - I work my own hours, I'm my own boss, and I can take off when I like. Whether I can afford to keep this lifestyle is another story. But that's the beauty of America right? You can try anything and if you fail, just declare bankruptcy and start all over again.