Hub Opinion
Posted: Sunday, November 25, 2012 7:00 am | Updated: 11:39 pm, Fri Nov 23, 2012.
Some countries reserve parts of the day for rest and family time. On weekdays in many parts of the world, no village merchant would think of keeping his shop open from 1-5 p.m. when everyone is dining or enjoying a nap.
The ritual of down time is all but lost in the United States. That fact came through clearly this weekend as Americans either reveled in the pleasures of giving thanks and then shopped, or they worked behind buffets and counters serving those with time off.
Hundreds of thousands now work on holidays and most weekends, and some of them are wondering if it really is a holiday when they are required to work. The more than 200,000 Americans who signed an online petition prefer to keep Thanksgiving as a day off, just as Sundays used to be for worship and rest.
“ ... For what we buy on the Lord’s day we will pay a high price indeed: the loss of time and space to do other things, to think other thoughts, to be other people,” columnist Rob Manoff wrote in 1977 in the New York Times, Manoff’s point is poignant, but much about our nation’s culture and economy has changed in 35 years.
In 1977, fewer families had both spouses working. While one worked, the other spouse tended to the household. Today, weekends are the only time many families can make trips to the store.
Americans eat at their desks and in their cars, and when they finally arrive home, they’re stuck on computers and cellphones while they rush between their children’s evening activities.
Bedraggled by the loss of their own down time, parents now show their children how to stay on a run by signing them up for piano, dance, soccer, Scouting and other activities.
Here’s a fact that won’t surprise a soul: An Expedia study found that of the 12 days most Americans are allotted for vacation, only 10 days are used.
There are many reasons our lives have become a rat race, but the stress of too much work takes a toll on health, relationships and the next generation.
Americans will never close their shops on weekdays for lunch and a siesta, but something has to change because too many of us are wound too tightly.
It takes work to succeed on the job, but each of us needs time to slow down to savor the good in our lives. We need to taste some slow-cooked barbecue with family and friends, stroll in the park and watch a few sunsets. We need down time so we can remind ourselves of what makes life meaningful.
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