Clocks and Vacations

Source

I'm sure you've all been there before.  You go into work on a Monday morning and you start to untangle yourself from the web of voicemails and emails and texts and facebook messages and despite being overwhelmed, you take a sip of your cup of Joe and you wonder.....

Why is it that clocks move in super-speed while on vacation?  Dusty and I just got home from a wonderful week of vacation (I know, that is a dirty word in today's American society and culture) and most of our week was wonderful!  I can't wait to recap that for you and to show you some pretty awesome photos, if I do say so myself! 

The one thing I was reminded of while on our vacation is that the world doesn't stop turning just because you're not physically clocking in.  There are still deadlines, and competition, and a host of clients whose businesses are still open even when you're out of town.  When you have a job in a field like mine, it's considerably harder to "leave work at work."  Everyone in our country that works hard is over-worked and struggling to find balance.  How do I know this?  Because the week before my vacation, I was working with a whole gaggle of clients who were out of town on their own vacations. The only way that equation is possible in the first place is that they were WORKING with me.

These people are much higher up the corporate ladder than I am, even, and they can't unplug entirely to spend time with their families.  On the one hand, I get it. It's business and if you want to be the best you can be, you have to be flexible.  You have to be available at any moment.  You have to seize the opportunities you're provided.  That's part of being successful in business, according to our culture.

On the other side of the coin, though, this reality makes me sad.  I'm sure there once was a time that you could literally go on vacation with your family and you would never even consider taking a computer with you (heck, there was a time when they weren't even physically mobile to begin with). 

"Come on, Timmy, we have to be at the airport in 30 minutes!" LOL!

[Sidenote: Can you imagine someone packing up their entire desktop system to go to the beach?  HAHA, I die a little!]

There was a time before cell phones and smart phones and tablets and all of these gadgets.  Do they make a lot of things easier?  Absolutely!  In most cases, I absolutely love all of the opportunities they provide (Hello, instant access to GPS!  Holla!).  The only downfall is that they make people too accessible.  Not only that, they make other people less sensitive to your time.

Case in point?  One of the people I had the pleasure of speaking with while on vacation last week was quite snippy with me on the phone.  He wanted some information and was aggravated with me when two hours had passed since he'd left me a voicemail on my business cellphone.  I had been on the beach, playing with my niece and nephews and called him back when I got up to our beach house for lunch.  He was pretty rude on the phone and reminded me of his impatience and when I told him why I hadn't gotten the message until that moment, his response was, "Well that is great for you but I need this right now."  When I apologized again, and gave him the information, I reminded him that he could have called my office and any number of people could have assisted him.  His response?  "Well, obviously you think I have more time than I actually have - I shouldn't have to call in and ask for someone else."

LOL!  Source

Now, please don't misunderstand.  I did not post that transaction to hate on this particular person. I don't need reassurance that he was being a jerk and I should have been able to enjoy my time off.  The reason I posted it was because it was a perfect example of how much people have been desensitized due to the changes in technology.  They know you can be reached and therefore they now believe that they are entitled to all of your time.  This same person sent me an email on a Sunday morning requesting a prompt response!

I don't know how to promote positive change in this area of my life.  Americans are so sucked into the "me, me, me" philosophy along with the "now, no, yesterday" philosophy that it would be very difficult to change the way that all of us conduct our business.  I just know that there are other countries who are not this way.  According to USA Today, "The United States is the only developed country in the world without a single legally required paid vacation day or holiday. By law, every country in the European Union has at least four work weeks of paid vacation." (June 8, 2013)

I must be crystal clear when I say I am not complaining.  My company has AMAZING benefits, and I am so lucky to have paid time off at all! I get more paid time off than many of my friends, so at the end of the day, I know how blessed I am.  I also am one of the people in the US who enjoys working and has been able to find and keep work for my entire adult life so far.  Again, this is not a "rant" post.  It's just a post about something I was reminded of when I was looking at things from a 10,000 feet perspective.

My question to you is this:  

Ribs