A Positive Side of France

I know a woman, who I’ll name Ms. Hart, who is genreous, helpful and has a big heart. She is down to earth and reliable. She barely gossips and gives good practical advice. I am so glad to know her. However, I can only be with her in small doses because despite all of the previously mentioned lovely things about her, she has a side which is fun for a little bi,t but tiresome after a while: her cynicism.

If you know of Edith Piaf then maybe you know what I mean about having a limit. I love the songs “Padam, Padam,” and “La foule” (my very favorite because of how it reflects life in general). “La vie en rose,” the most famous, I suppose is, uh… cute, I guess. I can get soberly drunk listening to at least three of her songs but at a certain point that shrill, that signature tremble in her singing really REALLY gets on my nerves and then the Edith Piaf listening session is over over OVER! Just listen to “Non, je ne regrette rien,” thrice and see how you feel.

In Egypt, at mealtimes as a guest, I was spoiled. Their concern that I got (more than) enough to eat made me feel special. But after a while, this attention, got old. And I just wanted to fade into the shadows and eat as much as I felt like without being observed.

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None of the above stated has anything to do with multiculturiasm or racism like my posts up until now. Yes, that’s right. However, should I dare say that you come here to read because, at least most of the time, you enjoy what you find, then that’s where the connection can be found. Thus far, I have been writing about things that while you enjoy reading them, can get tiresome because they have a negative kill-joy side. So today, for you and for me – because I too get tired of discussing negative things, even if they are fascinating – would like to tell you about something positive I discovered about French life vs. American life.

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Today, I’ll tell you about one of the lessons I’ve learned: valuing free-time

Most French people I’ve met claim to be atheists. I joke and say that they are not truly without a faith. Their new religion is free-time and worship of pleasurable things. While Americans barely take time off in comparison to the French, and are proud to admit so, the French never put off vacation and are shameless about reveling in it.

A typcial occurence: I walk into my local city hall annex to ask for my new national identity card. I have come because I received an sms telling me that it is ready. The lady who receives me says, in a cold, unapologetic tone: “I don’t have it ready. I just got back from vacation today. Come back tomorrow. ” She comes off so annoyed that you feel like you are the one who should apologize for bothering her. She, on the other hand, would never think of saying “sorry.”

I’ll admit, yes, this is unprofessional. But for the purpose of this post what is more important to notice is how the government worker did not make up another excuse for being unprepared. Any American worker would have invented another exucse, blamed it on a faulty computer maybe. But not this lady, and she is not alone! She went on vacation, is having a hard time adjusting back to the every day grind, and feels no shame in any of that!

Furthermore, when these people go on vacation it is not for a measly long week-end or even a week plus the two weekends. No! No! No! It is a minimum of two weeks. Very often three.

I had a co worker, who I’ll name Joel, whose favotire thing to do was map out all of his vacations during the year. He was a proactive guy, sure to give more than enough notice to our boss. In January, he would study the annual calendar, identify all of the national holidays and plug in vacation days to create long four day week-ends and multiple vacations.

For example, should July 14th, France’s Independence Day, fall on a Thursday, Joel would use one vacation day for the following Friday July 15th, resulting in a four day weekend as he had Saturday and Sunday off anyway. In this situation, Friday is called a “bridge day” as it is used to connect one federal holiday (Thursday the 14th) to a regular non-working day (Saturday). Should a national holiday fall on a Tuesday then the Monday he took off was the “bridge day” or le jour de pont. In 2022, for example, among the 11 federal holidays he’ll be able to place two vacation days and get two four-day long week-ends because Independence Days falls on a Thursday and All Saints Days falls on a Tuesday. 2018 was a rareity, Joel was able to take five four-day long weekends thanks to five federal holidays falling on a Tuesday or a Thursday.

Notice that in America, such a practice of adding the bridge day has been made impossible for holidays like Martin Luther Kind Jr. Day, Memorial Day and Labor Day. They are all on a Monday. Hence no possibility of plugging in a bridge day to get a four-day week-end. Take your three days off and smile!

And if you tell me that the the Friday after our Thanksgiving Thrusday is a bridge day, I’ll say: good you’ve been paying attention to the article! I will also congratulate myself for having succeeded in explaining the concept clearly. However, think about it a second time. Does Uncle Sam really want to give us an extra day to spend with our family? Or was it all calculated in advance, so that the Friday in question could become a special holiday on its own, a day to idolize the Almighty Dollar. A day often called Black Friday.

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In France the minimum number of vacation days that an employer must alot is 30. (I once met someone with 42 days because of his seniority.) You can place these days as you like more-or-less, but if you don’t use them, they will most likely be lost. Add to these, the extra day off per month that Joel gets because he works 40 hours a week rather than the legal full-time limit of 35. (Note: The French 35 hour work-week is equivalent to the American 40 hour work-week, because, in France, the lunch-hour is not included.) We’re talking about a lot of vacation time in comparison to America; and these days of rest are dutifully observed and enjoyed.

In the U.S., people seem to be proud of working more than 40 hour work weeks. It is often common to hear people brag bashfully about how they haven’t taken a vacation in years. As if having free-time to spend with family or doing things that aren’t lucrative is unworthy. Lazy. Shameful.

It is common to hear a young single mother being congradulated for working two or more part-time jobs. The following things might be said to her: “That’s terrific! You go girl!” You’re a super-mom!” George W. Bush reflected this mentality perfectly when he gave the following reply to a woman who told him that she worked three jobs: “You work three jobs?! Uniquely American isn’t it?! That is fantastic that you do that.”

I, too, had a mom, who was fantastic and worked very hard. While she worked late, I ate dinner alone from a can or a packet. And although retirement age, my mother didn’t stop working until her bad health forced her too. A true American!