Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

cnn.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

301–310 of 424 posts

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#301

Post by gcb »

camiller wrote: post #282
artmageddon wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Americans also have a weird fetish that you don't find other places about buying homes in their 20s." This is fueled by the social taboo of living at home with your parents/family and the availability of mortgages.

And the fact that at the end of 20 years of paying a mortgage I own a piece of property while at the end of 20 years of paying rent I own nothing.

and now you own a place with one bedroom, that can be sold for 2/3 (if you are lucky) of the price you paid in full for the mortage.

if you spent the same in rent, you would have lived in a 2-3 bedroom for 20 years, moving every time you changed jobs

20yrs is a LOT of time to be living in the same place you can afford downpayment when you are 20yr old. and a LOT of time to work/study on the same area

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#302

Post by gcb »

stephen_g wrote: post #127

Wow, that really is incredible... I really can't imagine not being able to take a week of vacation for fear of losing my job... Do you guys in the US get time in lieu? My job is 40 hours a week, and if you work longer than that, you can take the time off later. So working fifteen minutes longer every day lets you have another week off (paid) every year, in addition to the four weeks paid holiday you get. And since ho…

There's no answer to that. there's no labor law in the US except from some payment and safety issues.

everything is negotiable.

i negotiated a little more in vacation then the other co-workers. Some other teams in the company can take time off based on the overtime they put in that month. My team doesn't have that. but if we work on some long issue, the manager usually gives an informal day off later.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#303

Post by lotusleaf1987 »

jrockway wrote: post #269
cmurdock wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unless you have college loans that you start paying on immediately after leaving college... which is bordering on most people these days.

I doubt it. State schools are still pretty cheap. After a minimal scholarship, UIC cost me something like $1300 a semester. That ends up being a not-that-crippling debt.

If you go to a University of California, it costs at least $10,000 in tuition a year alone,definitely more now, that's what it was two years ago. Plus books and rent for most people.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#304

Post by dmm »

camiller wrote: post #282
artmageddon wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Americans also have a weird fetish that you don't find other places about buying homes in their 20s." This is fueled by the social taboo of living at home with your parents/family and the availability of mortgages.

And the fact that at the end of 20 years of paying a mortgage I own a piece of property while at the end of 20 years of paying rent I own nothing.

And at the end of that 20 years you own a piece of property. Or you could take that down payment and invest it. Will that property appreciate more than the return you can get for your money? Don't forget about property taxes too.

Renting gives you greater mobility too, which can be used to maximize income.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#305

Post by siphr »

wlll wrote: post #211
mcantelon wrote: post #183

"Century of the Self" is a great documentary on how the American population has been socially engineered by corporations.

You can (legitimately) download "Century of the Self" here: Part 1: http://www.archive.org/details/AdaCurtisCenturyoftheSelf_0 Part 2: http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtisCenturyoftheSelfPar... Part 3: http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtisCenturyoftheSelfPar... Part 4: http://www.archive.org/details/AdamCurtisCenturyoftheSelfPar...

I can second this. It is one of those documentaries that you need to see at least once before you die. Very informative.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#307

Post by michaelpinto »

ugh wrote: post #55
michaelpinto wrote: post #13

The flip side of this is that we have Summer vacation for schools (unlike the rest of the world) and have institutionalized Spring Break for college students. Sadly we see the idea of vacation as being for the very young or the very old who retire.

That can’t be true. Bavarian schools, for example, have a five-week summer vacation this year and additionally eight weeks of vacation spread over the whole year (one week in spring and autumn, two weeks for Easter, Pentecost and Christmas). There are also quite a few state and federal holidays but, as you can see, vacations are already clustered around those holidays. I think there are maybe two or three additional…

It's been a long time for me, but in the US I recall that it covers part of June, July and August — so that has to be at least over 8 weeks. Although maybe the idea that our kids get a longer Summer break is part of the the anti-vacation propaganda?

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#308

Post by camiller »

samlevine wrote: post #253

Does anyone else here prefer to have shorter vacations and higher pay? I've taken a few vacations in my life and they've tended to be less fun than working (at least after the first 3 days. Before that it's awesome).

well..... as long as we are being truthful, after 10 days vacation with a wife and two kids getting back to work is a relief. I'm often more stressed by vacation than work, but one of my children has "special needs" and despite the fact that I love him with all my heart, the constant monitoring what he eats, what he is doing, if he has craped himself, etc. takes a lot out of a vacation. That said, next year in February I'm taking a 2 week trip to South America with just my daughter and meeting up with some cousins and other extended family from both the states and Ecuador and Panama. My south American cousins I haven't seen in thirty years. I'm very much looking forward to it. ( and on that note, I think I'll have to post a "ask HN" on language learning options to brush up on my 25 years forgotten high school Spanish (if one doesn't exist already).

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#309

Post by dennisgorelik »

wheels wrote: post #201
chrisaycock wrote: post #186

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And not to mention: * Healthcare - Health insurance is often a luxury in America. The elderly have Medicare, but there is (currently) no safety for most citizens. * Public transportation - Many US cities don't have adequate bus service. Just anyone who lives outside NYC or a college town will need a car.

You guys are doing it again -- idealizing the other side of the fence as if everything was all rainbows and unicorns in Europe. In Germany and many European countries, you pay for healthcare and it costs a lot -- you simply don't have the option of not having healthcare and the cost is proportional to your income rather than your health condition. Also note that the employee caries the full cost of health insurance a…

Cost of living in Europe is higher than in the US. Consider cost of gasoline and real estate.

It's just that Europeans have lower income, so they do not buy things that wealthier Americans do. Europeans on average are driving smaller and older cars, they drive less. Other things you mentioned - Europeans are buying less gadgets.

Who's making the right choice is hard to say. Does larger house worth more than long vacation? The answer depends on who you ask.

Re: Why is America the 'no-vacation nation'?

#310

Post by ericdschmidt »

Silhouette wrote: post #88

The thing I find most interesting about this discussion is that we have not yet seen anyone from the US proudly claiming that by working harder they are more productive than the rest of us. I have seen similar conversations several times on various on-line forums in the past, and there was always a defensive/proud mindset from a significant group, even as those of us outside the US wondered if they realised how much…

The United States has one of the very highest GDP (PPP) per hour worked in the world. Been that way for a long time. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_GDP_%28PPP... . It makes sense, given our massive capital stock. So working longer hours here would mean a lot more productivity.

I myself value leisure highly, though. I have a job as a software engineer at a large bank in New York. Right out of college, the bank allows me (and all other first-year developers) four weeks of vacation per year, and I'm taking full advantage of it. I like to travel.

Demand for software engineering talent is so strong right now in the United States that I'm surprised so many Americans on Hacker News feel they can't take a decent vacation. I'm sure if they spoke to their bosses they could work something out. You shouldn't be afraid to ask for a reasonable vacation.

Post reply on HN