#196: The vacated holiday

I have been here in the USA long enough now to understand that Memorial Day and Labor Day mark the beginning and the end of the summer holidays in the USA.

But I still don’t understand the American version of ‘holidays’. As far as I know, a holiday is one day when the law or custom dictates that you don’t have to go to work.

Here’s the bit I don’t get. Why do most Americans treat a holiday like a vacation? To me, a vacation is what happens when you spend many consecutive days away from work and, hopefully, away from where you live.

A vacation is a time to rest and recharge, fully, so that when you get back to the office, the office knows that, yes, you are back, all of you!

What I do get is that the brief and frantic holidays-as-vacations seem to leave most people stressed, tired and relieved to be back in the relative calm of the cubicle.


I’m james@nonsenseatwork.com

Copyright: 2008 James Henry McIntosh

James can be heard on Public Radio, 88.9 FM WCVE, Richmond VA.
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