400 Million Wasted Vacation Days

The press is buzzing with the recent statistics that Americans forfeit over 415 million vacation days a year . . . the average American sacrificed three days of earned vacation in 2006. That's up 50% since 2003. And, guess what, we are also using more prescription drugs for anxiety, depression, insomnia, and stress than in most other industrialized nations and we're not living as long. Think there's a connection? Duh!

I also wonder about other cultural phenomenon. People keep saying that America is no longer a nation of readers (not that we ever were, actually; I remember being in high school when I read that the average American read only one or fewer books a year and realized I came from a very weird family since everyone in my family read all the time). But now, well, if we are working50-60 hours a week, plus spending more and more time on line, it is no wonder that we are reading fewer things offline, watching less tv, going to fewer movies, etc. There are only so many hours in a day, my friends.

I think we need a national movement to reclaim those forfeited vacation days, to be less workaholic, and have more fun.Yesssireee. And if you hear laughter coming from the Franklin Center, from my colleagues who think I had better start practicing what I am preaching, well, just ignore them. Or, in the Chicago-ese lingo of my father's generation, "Go take a vacation!"

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Another beautiful Flickr photo with a Creative Commons license, this one by Styleserver. Thank you, Styleserver.

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