Best excuse for playing hookey?
#1
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Best excuse for playing hookey?
Since the poor workers of America only get two weeks vacation a year, many of us run out of vacation before all of the Fall/Winter bragins come out. With all of those wonderful travel bargins and deals out there for extended weekends..., what is the best excuse you have used to "play hookey"?
#2
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Do you mean to inquire whether I lie to people and invent a false excuse to avoid work? No. I would consider that dishonest and morally inappropriate. If I needed more time off, I would ask for it, taking it unpaid if need be, or I would get another job.
#5
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Hookey, I think the other two posters were being tongue-in-cheek (I hope so, anyway!). I usually use family if I need an excuse. I live in a different area of the country from where I originally come from. It comes in handy to say that I have to see my family or go to a funeral and no one can really check up on me. As for your question of how we can get away more often to travel? We live in a puritanical, workaholic society in the U.S. "Goofing off" is associated with immorality and laziness. Maybe that's changing to a small degree, but we're far behind the Europeans when it comes to downtime and holidays.
#8
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Please note, my tongue was firmly in cheek in my first posting, but I do think my approach with my promotion might be effective - if lots of people would request vacation time (in addition to or in lieu of raises), and demonstrate to employers that vacation is a valuable part of the compensation package, then offering more vacation would become common, or at least more of an option in how we're paid.
#10
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Hookey: you surely did sound serious on your posting, so I will also go that route: <BR>My first trip to Europe was for 2 weeks, and I only had 1 week stored up. I did indeed ask for (and received with no problem) one week unpaid vacation time. Had to save more (since I was definitely not making big bucks at that point) but I was traveling on the cheap (anyone remember the old "Europe on $10/day" books?) and I had no regrets whatsoever. <BR>At one point in my current job position, I got a promotion and tried to up my vacation time: large company, lots of rules, didn't fly. (But, I stayed around, the next year went to 3 weeks vacation.) <BR>Re: using a fudged story: I cannot imagine being overseas and lying about where I am. Too stinking easy to get caught if return is delayed or they run into someone who knows, and besides: how could one not end up talking about the trip??? <BR>Bottom line to me: work hard and well, take unpaid leave if necessary (catches the higher-ups attention in a good way, an added bonus), stick with a job long enough to earn more vacation time, and don't beef about the american system: contrast our standards of living, our pay scales, our ability to "change horses" in our career paths more than most Europeans can, --- all of these help us to afford to live a life that includes travel!!!
#11
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Hookey: Just re-read your original post (after I hit the "go" button): <BR>Dude - *plan ahead*. don't fritter away your vacation time, save it because you *know* those deals come up almost every year! I almost never take a simple day's vacation, I use each day of my now 4 weeks/yr to be out of town!!!