Ahh, Free at La -- Oops! Time's Up

The Washington Post ^ | 072703 | Joe Robinson

[Archangelsk]

Ahh, Free at La -- Oops! Time's Up

By Joe Robinson

Sunday, July 27, 2003; Page B01

SANTA MONICA, Calif.

"How do Americans do it?" asked the stunned Australian I met on a remote Fijian shore. He had zinc oxide and a twisted-up look of absolute bafflement on his face. I'd seen that expression before, on German, Swiss and British travelers. It was the kind of amazement that might greet someone who had survived six months at sea in a rowboat.

The feat he was referring to is how Americans manage to live with the stingiest vacation allotment in the industrialized world -- 8.1 days after a year on the job, 10.2 days after three years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The Aussie, who took every minute of his annual five weeks off -- four of them guaranteed by law -- just couldn't fathom a ration of only one or two weeks of freedom a year. "I'd have to check myself into the loony bin," he declared.

Well, welcome to the cuckoo's nest, mate -- otherwise known as the United States. In this country, vacations are not only microscopic, they're shrinking faster than revenues on a corporate restatement. Though it's the height of summer, I'm betting you're not reading this while lolling on the beach. A survey by the Internet travel company Expedia.com has found that Americans will be taking 10 percent less vacation time this year than last -- too much work to get away, said respondents. This continues a trend that has seen the average American vacation trip buzzsawed down to a long weekend, according to the travel industry. Some 13 percent of American companies now provide no paid leave, up from 5 percent five years ago, according to the Alexandria-based Society for Human Resource Management. In Washington state, a whopping 17 percent of workers get no paid leave.

[Skooz]

No, it, didn't.

Yes, it did. Ask any reputable economic historian.

America was born and grew great in a hot cauldron populated by violent men.

America was born and grew great in a hot cauldron populated by violent, hardworking men.

[Just_de_facts]

Another self righteous prig.

[Archangelsk]

[Just_de_facts]

Are you being facetious?

[Archangelsk]

No, just being funny. :-)

[AIRFORCE76]

The next poster got my point, sorry you didn't. Regardless of your opinion of any individual product the simple truth is that the poorest in this country live like the wealthiest of other countries. You don't have to go very far to the south of our border to see destitution. Mexico, much as I love the people and the country, have suffered under 70 years of socialist mismanagement of the economy and all their resources, animal, vegetable, or mineral.

[Just_de_facts]

Okay, I hear a lot of negative comments on this board about unions and almost all of it is simple minded rhetoric from people who don't know any better.

[Archangelsk]

You said Europe originally. Mexico is a horse of an entirely different hue.

[ikka]

Violence made this nation great and I embrace and believe in that concept wholeheartedly. If you have any doubt, then do some research into coal, oil, and steel industries.

You are nuts.

[MonroeDNA]

Longshoremen (union, of course) make an average of $120,000 per year, in LA.

Free money. Nobody pays for that. Nope. Not even the "Destination charge" applied to your new car. Nope.

[Archangelsk]

Maybe, but I'm very right. Here's a couple of examples:

Coal
Bonus Army (Oh, and before you get all sensitive on me, I consider McArthur, Patton and Eisenhower role models)
Draft Riots
Steel Mills

[Skooz]

Wait a minute......Corporate Fat cats pay for all that. Just like they pay for all the taxes leveed against them. They don't pass those expenses to the consumer. Nope.

[Skooz]

Amazing how our history is so violent, and yet the rest of world history is violence free.

[Archangelsk]

You forgot the sarcasm tag.

[Just_de_facts]

Are you aware that union people are some of the best paid and best insured workers in America , thus making them the ideal candidate for the heart pump? They are the people who will purchase the products that you sell and the ones who will pay the taxes for the government grants and loans that funded this technology. They are the end user for your product and you insult them even as they support you. Do you belong on this forum.

[Skooz]

The sarcasm was so obvious I didn't feel I needed one.

If violence is the only thing that made the US great, then Europe should be many times as powerful as America. Not only has European violence far outstripped anything in US history, but they got a running 15 century headstart.

[boxerblues]

Don't worry...with all that outsourcing, Americans stand to have a LOT more free time on their hands.
until someone in the US needs someone from the "new" outsourced job and realizes they are on holiday everytime they are needed. We've had several jobs come back to our company for this reason

[Ukiapah Heep]

Out of curiosity, how much time off do our Indian subalterns get? Their calendar where I work seems to be chock full of holidays, and they apparently get a month of vacation. They never come in to work early. Overall, they aren't the big deal that has been heralded in terms of continual coverage. They also don't assign enough resources to the projects I've been on.

I thought the big deal with them was that there were supposed to be millions of 'em working for a crust of pizza and all of them the equivalent of MIT.

[MonroeDNA]

They can buy it or not. Or their insurers. We'll sink or swim. What is it worth to you, if you are dying?

Do you want me to applaud coerced protectionism, so that I can make a profit? No, thanks. If the $120,000 a year longshoreman gets one, somebody is going to pay. Not him, apparently.

No government grants or loans funded us. That is why we will succeed, where others have failed.

We are greedy, non-union capitalists, and are creating life-saving technology from our brains. Why? Because we want to get rich.

And in return, people will live longer.

Fair trade?

[boxerblues]

I dont know about the Indians,we have only recently started outsourcing to them. The Company I work for was bought by the Sweds 5 years ago so we work with a lot of Sweds & Germans who get somewhere around 6 weeks. The whole month of July and August is pretty much shot in the arse as far as productivity. The whole work ethic is different, timely replys and deadlines are not something they seem to care about unless it works in their favor.