Dear Crabby,
My employer only gives me six paid holidays per year. Some of my friends work for the government though, and they get more than ten paid holidays off per year! What do you think would be a fair amount of time off per year?
Sincerely Dan Dayoff
Dear Mr. Dayoff,
I can see how you would be envious of these friends of yours that get all this time off. But if you say they work for the government, I guess I would ask if they ever truly work at all? I know I am probably being too hard on them, and stereotypical of the extremes we hear about at times, but come on, do you really think you can compare a working company to the government? In the real world, companies must please their customers or they risk losing revenue, or worse yet, go out of business. If the government doesn’t please their people, it seems they feel that they have done their job well. As far as these holidays, I guess you need to take that up with your boss. I always got the six paid days off as well, and the rest was either vacation or days off without pay. I think that is pretty normal. It seems like one of those government employees must have been making up a calendar one year and started
trying to come up with more reasons to take time off. My guess is that they wanted to take some time off in February and they noticed a couple Presidents had February birthdays, so they made up President’s Day. Then they said, “What about March?” Lo and behold, they created St. Patrick’s Day. Next came holidays like Arbor Day, Veteran’s Day, Martin Luther King Day, and Sweetest Day! My goodness, if these people were trying to get out of working all together, they were certainly off to a good start! I say if people want to take time off, they can do it on their own time and on their own dime. Celebrate every day you want; just don’t ask the rest of us to pay for it! I know that is easy for a retired baby-boomer to say, but I said the same thing all the years I was working. I remember my dad telling me when I was a young man, “I only require you to work a half day son. And, there are 24 hours in a day! Do whatever you like with your other 12 hours.” If we all had this kind of work ethic, the world would be a much more productive place for sure. Of course, Mrs. Crabby would say productivity doesn’t replace time well spent with loved ones, so balance is key. Well, I’m not sure if I helped you or not. I’ll probably end up getting more letters from some upset government employees. But hey, it’s my advice and that’s how I see it. So good luck, and let me know how it turns out for you.
Sincerely, Dear Crabby
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