More vacation or I might burn out

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Spain is not just about bull fighting and beaches.

The country also seems to have a pretty clear idea when it comes to picking up on the old proverb: Don’t kill the goose that lays the golden eggs. Rather, kill it with kindness.

I was watching House Hunting International Wednesday night – come on, anyone can dream – when I heard some news that ruffled my feathers.

According to the reality show’s real estate agent who was looking for lodgings in sunny Spain for a starry-eyed couple, in Spain all working people have 30 days paid vacation every year. That’s one month in which they can stay home and still bask in the sun of that beautiful country. Every day they get to take two-hour lunch hours. And surprise, surprise they have happy employees.

What’s wrong with this country? True, we did get a brand new statutory holiday called Family Day on Monday (although even that didn’t go down without a bunch of bickering from our B.C. bureaucrats) and that is good for baby steps.

But what about a giant leap for Canada-kind?

More paid holidays. More time for me. I’m all for it.

When I lived in England as a teenager, I vacationed in Spain. I can still remember the balmy beaches, the great markets and....an (unofficial) curfew for women. I was told at our hotel that “nice” women don’t go out past dark or they can be mistaken for streetwalkers.

I am sure that has all changed now – a lot happens in a century, LOL – but progress is shown in how a country treats its workers, those cogs in the wheel that help the country grow.

I did a little online research today.

Apparently, the average European and Australian worker gets four to six weeks of paid vacation per year guaranteed by law. I gather that means regardless of years of service.

The reason for this:  enlightened employers feel that if they don’t give their employees enough time away from work, they will suffer from burnout and fall off the wheel.

Personally, I’d rather suffer from sunburn than from burnout.

So this is the thing. After six years of toil and “tote that barge,” at the good old Free Press, I have finally established enough seniority time to get four weeks vacation with pay.

But I don’t think  I’ll spend it in Spain watching the local bull fights.

That is how I spend the rest of the year.