….Americans Don’t Like Taking Vacations
1. Americans have a deep-rooted work ethic. Maybe this comes from the fact it’s a country of immigrants who have to scratch and claw their way up the social ladder. It’s the land of opportunity/milk and honey but only IF you’re willing to work for it, or work for an online start-up that gets acquired for a king’s ransom by Google. Given this approach, the standard two weeks of vacation is an outright luxury.
2. It would take away from how much Americans enjoy Thanksgiving. The concept of four days in a row of vacation, during which they get to watch football all afternoon and then eat turkey all night, is pure bliss for Americans. This explains why they are willing to travel like crazy all over the country for what is really an extended long weekend.
3. Holidays are for wimps. When you’re an economic super-power, there’s no time for vacations. Meanwhile, many Europeans get six weeks of vacations, which is why they’re struggling with lower productivity and high unemployment these days. If you’re going to win, you’ve got to work, work, work. As the legendary Bruce Springsteen sang in Darlington County: “He don’t work and he don’t get paid”.
4. There’s plenty of time to travel after you retire. America, after all, is the land of RVs and enormous Winnebagos. After you’ve put in your 45 years of work for The Man, and receive your gold watch, you can drive off into the sunset in your gas-guzzling home on wheels, and see as much of the world as you want.
Technorati Tags: vacation
