solipschtick

… landed an entry-level job with seven weeks of paid vacation per year. Seven. Weeks. This is not an isolated perk in this area of the world either; an Aussie friend recently enjoyed 14 months of paid long-service leave, then he cut his hours down to two days per week for a year, and now he is taking five more months off (at half-pay), then fully retiring…at the age of 50. How long do you have to work at a company in America before earning seven weeks of vacation time per year? And would you suppose that a paid leave of absence on top of it is too elaborate? In other places, it is not unheard of. When I vacationed to South Africa many years ago and was chatting with the European-influenced locals, the common question asked of me was “how many months are you here for?” I looked at them like they were crazy for asking such a question. Who on earth can get months off from work at a time? They in turn, looked at me like I was crazy. Who on earth travels all the way to South Africa from North America for only a few weeks (according to them)?