Point-Counterpoint: Workaholic Americans Who Kill Their Summer Vacations Vs. Lazy Colombians And Their Many 3-Day Weekends

In the hopes of lampooning tired media practices as lovingly as Stephen Colbert does, we present you with a brief (and superficially researched) comparison of two stories covering that thing you dream about as you look out your office window at summer’s waning hold on this planet: vacation and holidays. A bitter, long-winded op-ed piece out of The New York Times by novelist Walter Kirn presents “The Decline of the American Summer Vacation” thusly:

[...] a nation of remarkably productive, often well-paid workers who are becoming increasingly reluctant to pause from their labors and refresh their souls — a nation whose cash-drenched corporate employers typically don’t pay for much time off (less than two weeks annually, on average), a nation whose globe-gripping federal government is the only one in the whole industrialized world not to legally require generous periods of paid kick-back-and-hang time — is a nation that’s socially screwed up [...]

[...] particularly in comparison with European countries like France, which orders its citizens outside to play for the entire month of August and a few other weeks spread through the year.

But if your tolerance of the French tongue (and the French people) is a bit low, you might consider the following advice when it comes to relocating for the sake of vacations:

Looking to get more time off? Move to Colombia. Renowned for its high murder rate, this Andean nation also leads the world in public holidays with 18 each year.

[Ed. Note: Never take the advice of journalists. Thankfully, this excludes yours truly.]
We were sold at “high murder rate.” A nifty mirror image emerges between the U.S. and Colombia, as it’s made painfully obvious in each article that stress levels spike due to “American undervacationing” while productivity takes a dive as a result of Colombian obsession with the three day weekend, or “puente.” Why bother bringing all this up? We just wanted to see if any of you overworked office minions out there would bite. Our bags / bulletproof vests are packed for a scouting trip south of the equator, and we might get lonely.

The Way We Live Now: Vacation, All I Never Wanted [NY Times]
Want more vacation? Move to Colombia [Seattle Times]
Image [Google]