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South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

reuters.com

11–20 of 190 posts

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#11
post #7

Actually sometimes I really fantasize about a 3-6 month stint in prison - am I the only one. Surely it can't be that bad If Martha Stewart can do it. Imagine no commuting or on call support or social engagements or children's homework or chores. bliss.

and then be forever banned from properly entering the workforce.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#12

I am a bit confused by this, "South Koreans worked 2,024 hours in 2017." That does seem demanding but I am not sure how the US wouldn't be ranked higher where the minimum for full time employment is 2,080 hours a year. Can anyone clarify?

Demanding? 2024 hours per year is 40 hours per week with two weeks off, or 41 hours with three weeks off. On average.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#14
post #7

Actually sometimes I really fantasize about a 3-6 month stint in prison - am I the only one. Surely it can't be that bad If Martha Stewart can do it. Imagine no commuting or on call support or social engagements or children's homework or chores. bliss.

Consider taking a Vipassana course instead.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#15
post #7

Actually sometimes I really fantasize about a 3-6 month stint in prison - am I the only one. Surely it can't be that bad If Martha Stewart can do it. Imagine no commuting or on call support or social engagements or children's homework or chores. bliss.

I think it's a nightmare. Depravation of freedom alone must be unbearable. I'm not even sure all inmates have access to books.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#16

I am a bit confused by this, "South Koreans worked 2,024 hours in 2017." That does seem demanding but I am not sure how the US wouldn't be ranked higher where the minimum for full time employment is 2,080 hours a year. Can anyone clarify?

Can I know how you got that number? Presuming you work 37.5 hours per week which should be the minimum fulltime labor amount at 5 days times 7.5 hours per week. 2080 divided by 37.5 is about 55 weeks, while there is only 52 weeks in a year. If you count it as 40 hrs per week then it is 52 weeks but people usually don't count the extra half hour which is usually a break but that could be your number. This is probably…

> 7.5 hours per [day]

How did you get that? When I was an hourly employee, my shifts were 8.5/9 hours clock-in to clock-out, to allow for a 30 minute or 1 hour lunch break.

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#17
post #7

Actually sometimes I really fantasize about a 3-6 month stint in prison - am I the only one. Surely it can't be that bad If Martha Stewart can do it. Imagine no commuting or on call support or social engagements or children's homework or chores. bliss.

Consider taking a Vipassana course instead.

^ really second this if you feel like getting locked up

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#18
post #7

Actually sometimes I really fantasize about a 3-6 month stint in prison - am I the only one. Surely it can't be that bad If Martha Stewart can do it. Imagine no commuting or on call support or social engagements or children's homework or chores. bliss.

You could be an undercover informer. Request a project from the FBI

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#19

I recall also reading something similar about Japan a while back. EDIT: found it https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-03-16/japan-s-p...

More commonly in Japan, individuals will "lock themselves up" in their own home, very similar to what house arrest would look like.

It's referred to as hikikomori[1], the practice of becoming a recluse to avoid the stresses of daily life (school, work, anything). It's surprisingly common and tends to put quite a strain on families, but as it's so common, it's relatively accepted as a disease (or more directly, mental illness) of sorts.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hikikomori

Re: South Koreans lock themselves up to escape prison of daily life

#20
post #6

I am a bit confused by this, "South Koreans worked 2,024 hours in 2017." That does seem demanding but I am not sure how the US wouldn't be ranked higher where the minimum for full time employment is 2,080 hours a year. Can anyone clarify?

40 hours/wk with only 2 weeks combined of vacation/sick days/holidays is 2000 hours. 2080 as a minimum is kind of crazy.

2080 is the standard HR number because 52 [weeks] * 40 [hours in a week] = 2080 [hours per year]. And 40 = 5 [days of week] * 8 [hours per day] for your standard 9 to 5 job.

There's no vacation/holidays/sick leave included because those hours that you actually don't work are still paid. In other words the vacation and holiday policy is just a discount you get from your employer on the total 2080 hours per year they would have otherwise requested from you.

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