"Only dull people are brilliant at breakfast" -Oscar Wilde |
"The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth, shall be watered also himself." -- Proverbs 11:25 |
The survey, conducted by Harris Interactive for Expedia.com, surveyed working adults in Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands as well as the United States. When it comes to vacation deprivation, however, Americans lead the world.
First of all, the survey found that U.S. workers receive fewer vacation days (12 on average) than workers in any of the other countries surveyed, and Americans are more likely to work over 40 hours a week (35 percent). The United States tied with Canada for giving back to employers the most vacation days per person (3 days on average).
The value of vacation days that Americans are expected to leave unused in 2005 is estimated at nearly $54 billion.
Overall, almost a third (31 percent) of working Americans reported that they don’t always take all of the vacation days they have coming, but it’s not because they don’t like taking time off. Nearly half (48 percent) of American workers say that they return from vacation feeling “rested, rejuvenated and reconnected in their personal life.”
President Bush is getting the kind of break most Americans can only dream of -- nearly five weeks away from the office, loaded with vacation time.
The president departed Tuesday for his longest stretch yet away from the White House, arriving at his Crawford ranch in the evening to clear brush, visit with family and friends, and tend to some outside-the-Beltway politics. By historical standards, it is the longest presidential retreat in at least 36 years.
The August getaway is Bush's 49th trip to his cherished ranch since taking office and Tuesday was the 319th day that Bush has spent, entirely or partially, in Crawford -- roughly 20 percent of his presidency to date, according to Mark Knoller, a CBS Radio reporter known for keeping better records of the president's travel than the White House itself. Weekends and holidays at Camp David or at his parents' compound in Kennebunkport, Maine, bump up the proportion of Bush's time away from Washington even further.
Bush's long vacations are more than a curiosity: They play into diametrically opposite arguments about this leadership style. To critics and late-night comics, they symbolize a lackadaisical approach to the world's most important day job, an impression bolstered by Bush's periodic two-hour midday exercise sessions and his disinclination to work nights or weekends. The more vociferous among Bush's foes have noted that he spent a month at the ranch shortly before the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, when critics assert he should have been more attentive to warning signs.
To Bush and his advisers, that criticism fundamentally misunderstands his Texas sojourns. Those who think he does not remain in command, aides say, do not understand the modern presidency or Bush's own work habits. At the ranch, White House officials say, Bush continues to receive daily national security briefings, sign documents, hold teleconferences with aides and military commanders, and even meet with foreign leaders. And from the president's point of view, the long Texas stints are the best way to clear his mind and reconnect with everyday America.