Chrimmas

Hooray for comments, everybody! So, yesterday I was talking to my dear friend Julia about vacation time and such, mostly because I want to know when the hell I'm going to see her again. She lives in D.C., and plane tickets are frick-ass expensive. She was telling me about all she has to go through to take a few days off at Christmas and fly home to her family. It's absurd. Now, Julia works for a non-profit organization on which many people in the city depend for help and shelter, particularly during the winter. So, it's not like she can just close up her office and leave. She has to make arrangements for someone else to fill her shoes, or lots of people will be up shit creek. But, for most people who have a hard time taking time off from work to see their families, it's because the companies they work for are solely interested in turning a profit, regardless of how strung out their employees are from not ever having a significant break. When I worked in the stupid world of "Retail Banking," I went to ask off for one weekend, because I was to be a bridesmaid in a good friend's wedding. Obviously, I knew months ahead of time that I needed off, and so I put in my request early. It was denied. Hello? Maybe you misunderstood me, Mr. Computerized time off giver. I'm in the wedding. Not to mention, that had I stayed at said bank, I would have been given one day off for Christmas (if Christmas Day was on a weekday that year), or zero days off it fell on the weekend. And, of course, if we're not letting our employees have time off over the holidays, then we're certainly not giving them a break during any other time of year. What has happened to us? No wonder we're all strung out and depressed and so stressed we can't even enjoy the minimal time we do spend with family and friends. Let me just point out one thing that I've come to learn: Taking good care of your employees is good business. It's not rocket science, people. If employers would give ample vacation time, and be understanding when you need to leave early to pick up your sick child, etc., they'd find that their employees were willing to work harder, stay longer hours when necessary, and will remain loyal to their companies, often spending 20-30 years working for them. Not to mention, if people have at least some vacation time (one week in twelve months doesn't count), they're less likely to burn out and are more likely to produce better work. We give students huge breaks throughout the school year, even through graduate school. But, oh, you're working now? You don't get any vacation until you've worked a solid year. And after that, you get one week. WTF? We cannot function like this. We're not functioning like this. Other countries require that people have several weeks vacation throughout the year. Norway requires four weeks for everyone, regardless of where they're employed, and once you're over 50, it's five weeks. Most people get more than that, and everyone's allowed to take three of those weeks in one chunk. The only people in America who get three weeks at once are super rich, or they own their own business. So, I'm owning my own business, people. And I'm taking a week off at Christmas. And, when my sister has babies, I'm going to see her. And, when my family comes to visit, I'm going to spend time with them. When Doug and I get rich, you can come work for us and do it too.