Work, Work, Work
September 2, 2009 – 2:42 pmAfter reading a friend’s blog post on taking a month of for the first time since he was in high school (he’s middle-aged), it got me thinking about why it is that our society seemingly rewards work above all else.
Shouldn’t we have other interests (and time for them!) outside of work? Shouldn’t we have time for our families? Shouldn’t we have time to maintain a sense of a food culture that doesn’t involve processed food?
For many of us the hours in an office, sitting behind a computer don’t allow any of this. Some of my friends are or have worked upwards of 80-90 hours per week! That’s a staggering amount!
Most jobs only start at 1-2 weeks of vacation time, while in Europe most people have at least a month off (plus numerous holidays). So while the hours pile up, the days off are few and far in between. And then while on vacation, most people still can’t quite let go, checking their work email and voice mail messages on a daily basis!
Hard work is definitely a virtue, but what about its opposite- over-work? Who determined the amount of hard work that is sufficient?
Maybe in the mad dash to constantly work harder and longer, in the seemingly unending struggle to get bigger and better we are leaving more and more behind?
Any thoughts?
