How infiltrated is the business world by family mf'ing values?

[RB TexLa]

My boss wants to speak with me tomorrow. Not because I've done a good or bad job this year. It's because I have not used any of my X number of days of vacation time this year.

How dare anyone value work over being selfish!

[NutmegYankee]

1. Americans take fewer vacation days than the rest of the First World.

We should have more vacation days and actually use them. It's healthier.

[RB TexLa]

2. I was raised that you get up and go to work

[NutmegYankee]

5. You never travel and visit anyplace?

[Jamastiene]

27. Were you one of those kids that went to school sick

and got everyone around you sick, then you got perfect attendance?

[BeanMusical]

32. Good question.

And I bet that he won't drink with you for asking him that.

[upaloopa]

54. You haven't started to think on your own yet?

You are not some programmed robot.
You have a brain and you can make decisions no matter what you were taught as a kid.
You observe and test and look at results and decide how to act. It is a part of becoming an adult.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

82. I'm sure you were also raised that you don't deserve health care

It's people like you that keep the Republican party's "bootstrap" bullshit on the front burner.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. People should take their vacation days.

It's better for your health and you're actually more productive. At my old job they strongly encouraged employees to take vacations and were pretty accommodating about scheduling them to be sure we could take time off. People who take the vacation days they are allowed are not lazy; they're sensible.

[hifiguy]

64. Yep.

There is a large, prominent law firm in the Twin Cities that subscribes to this philosophy. They encourage people to use their off days to the fullest and call you in only if you bill TOO MUCH time. They think it's unhealthy and counterproductive to be a workaholic. It's not an apocryphal story. I know a couple of insiders there and that really is the firm culture. They've ranked at the top of national "quality of life" surveys in the legal press for years and they have very little turnover.

[Boreal]

4. TF are you talking about "selfish"?

How is taking time away from working for someone else "selfish"?

Is this a joke?

[RB TexLa]

6. Taking time for myself not selfish?

Yes that would fall under selfishness.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

8. If your employer has offered you vacation time and you take it,

you're not being selfish. Your vacation is part of your compensation package, just like your salary and health insurance and 401K and any other benefit they provide. If accepting your paycheck isn't selfish, neither is taking days off.

[Tsiyu]

39. Wow.

The self hate is strong in this one.


"I don't vacation with myself!"

What a funny guy you are, but too bad you can't relax and enjoy yourself a bit. I feel sorry for you family, because they have a caricature of a human, not a real person in you.

I suppose if your wife ( or husband, if you have either ) wanted you to go on a trip to get away, which is a NORMAL human experience if you can afford it, you tell her she's being selfish?

Your poor family......

[Union Scribe]

18. That poster is the joke

But sadly the ridiculous things they write are not.

Edit to add some highlights of their nonsense:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1702075

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024049528

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=421842

http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=736617

and my favorite: http://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=1495635

[BeanMusical]

33. Lol!

Some of those are silly to the point of being comedy gold.

[smirkymonkey]

36. Interesting.

I think instead of vacation time, a mental health leave might be in order.

[pintobean]

48. You left out the classic

Why would the phrase "I don't drink with you" upset someone?

ETA - I see you linked to it down-thread.

[gollygee]

76. Oh wait, this is the "I don't drink with you" person!

I just posted that I wondered if it was. LOL. I thought I recognized the style. Classic!

[DisgustipatedinCA]

53. I haven't clicked on the links, but let me guess...

These are complaints about children on airplanes, in the vein of 'old man yells at cloud'.

[SammyWinstonJack]

70. Thank you.

[gollygee]

75. I had to check to see if one of those was

"I don't drink with you."

But no, that must have been someone else.

Edited because I see it is indeed the same person. ROFL

[tammywammy]

7. Employees that take vacations and time off are overall better.

Vacations and time off reduce stress and turnover and create happier and thus more productive employees. That's why companies encourage using vacation time and a work-life balance.

Not using your vacation time isn't something to be proud of. And most importantly, people that use their vacation time aren't selfish.

[name not needed]

9. You are one odd bird.

[tammywammy]

10. I don't vacation with you.

[tammywammy]

15. Offended, not at all.

It's a classic thread of yours. You should take pride that it's legendary.

As for your race comment, I have no idea what race the person you said it to is or yours, and has absolutely no bearing on my previous post.

BTW, you could reply to my legitimate response #7, which clearly answers why taking vacation time is important.

[tammywammy]

17. Let me repeat myself:

As for your race comment, I have no idea what race the person you said it to is or yours, and has absolutely no bearing on my previous post.

[Union Scribe]

25. I just went and read that whole thread

and nowhere in it is your or the host's race brought up. So your new interpretation of the response you got has come right out of your arse and you owe the poster you're accusing of racism a giant apology.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5330132

[Tsiyu]

40. Isn't the poster ADORABLE?

I think the OP is one of the funniest people on DU. They HAVE to be a troll; I am just not going to let myself believe anyone is as full of bullshit as RBTexla is.

[B2G]

47. I just read it too

I'm seriously wondering if the poster isn't somewhere on the autism spectrum. That's the only thing that makes sense to me.

[pintobean]

50. This thread is a rerun from 2 years ago

"If family time is so important why does vacation time have to be paid?"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021481795

and here is the money shot from that thread:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10021481795#post97

[marble falls]

52. Whoaaaaaa ...... nice find!

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

83. This now explains a lot about that post.

At no time in eight years did we know the host was white or RB was black.

[pintobean]

84. See post #50

a couple of posts up

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

85. Ahhh, ok

Honestly never knew he was African American, but it seems like he enjoys making "whites" uncomfortable "unintentionally".

[Nuclear Unicorn]

45. There was no disobeying.

You may want to congratulate yourself on standing up to someone but you didn't. You insulted someone who was wanting to be inviting and generous and you did so for no reason other than their race.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

20. Curse you!

You beat to it

I don't vacation with you!

[BeanMusical]

34. Someone gave me the link to that epic thread!

I swear I was crying!

[Nuclear Unicorn]

44. "I don't vacation with you."

I see variations of this repeated by people responding to the OP on a number of subjects. Could you offer some background, please?

[cherokeeprogressive]

59. It's a riff on one of this poster's most classic OPs.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=105x5330132

[Nuclear Unicorn]

61. After reading that thread along with several others posted here

it is too hard to take this poster seriously. I can't help but think he is trying to play a Colbert-esque persona but with a rancid dose of racist language where he says things like, "that white" and accusing DUers who find his antics to be antics of wanting to "find a rope and a tree."

If it's for comedic effect I'm finding it hard to laugh. If he's serious it's repugnant.

[cherokeeprogressive]

62. I certainly can't disagree with your last sentence.

I liken it to the train wreck comparison... I mean I don't wanna read his posts, but something just draws me to them.

[Rex]

11. So was it your hope that he wanted to talk about a promotion and all you got

was why haven't you taken any vacation days yet? Don't feel bad, I haven't taken a vacation in five years and my boss will never even ask me about it since I get no vacation days off.

[RB TexLa]

12. No, I was told what it is going to be about

[Rex]

14. Maybe they can compensate you for days you don't want to take for vacation

with money. That would be nice.

[vive la commune]

19. Wha? No way.

You seriously think it's selfish to take a vacation? You know, people died for that shit, to be able to get a little time off and actually have a life outside of working until they die. Is it selfish to have weekends? To not work 14 hour days? If you don't want time off, fine, but ffs, it is NOT selfish. Lots of people would love to get time off, and actually, badly need to, but can't. You're lucky. Count your blessings.

[neverforget]

21. Good for you

[Hassin Bin Sober]

22. Maybe they want to audit your desk while you are away.

It's a good way to uncover malfeasance.

Not saying that's the case. But some firms require their employees to take time off.

[RB TexLa]

23. Texas law states no employee can be forced to utilize a benefit they did not personally negotiate.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

24. Ok, Melvin Beli. But I'm pretty sure your employer can make you stay home while getting...

..... paid without getting the ACLU's balls in an uproar. Maybe you should chain yourself to your desk.

[WhiteAndNerdy]

26. Vacation time actually enhances worker productivity.

Taking your vacation days is not selfish; they are part of your compensation package and an important part of taking care of yourself. Taking care of oneself is not some kind of luxury or self-indulgence, but a responsibility, both to oneself and to society. You are actually less valuable to others if you allow your health to be undermined by overwork or other forms of self-neglect. Do some reading on this -- I think you'll be surprised.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

28. I think some people just like to feel superior to their co-workers

who are lazy and selfish and take vacations. I worked with a few people like that. "Oh, I never take a vacation. My work is too important; this place would fall apart without me."

[WhiteAndNerdy]

29. I can see that.

I had a roommate once who made a total martyr of herself in the workplace, to the point of refusing to take a couple of minutes to use the restroom. She apparently thought this would make her look super-conscientious and valuable to her company, but when the lay-offs came, she got the ax just like everybody else.

I remember one day when she had refused to use the restroom all day long because it would have been a "waste" of time (no pun intended), and when she got home that evening she was literally wetting herself as she ran for the bathroom. It was just stupid. Not surprisingly, she died at age forty after years of failing to take care of herself and a couple of chronic health problems.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

72. Wow, that's pathetic.

She can't have had a very happy life. I can't imagine feeling so important (or paranoid) at work that I wouldn't even go to the bathroom. How did she make it through a day, or even half a day? Sad...

[tammywammy]

31. People like that are just deluded.

And people don't want to realize they're really not that indispensable.

[Major Nikon]

37. Any member of management who says this is providing proof of their incompetence

[KMOD]

30. Hear your boss out first.

Unless there's something about your boss that we don't know, you don't know your boss's intentions yet.

Perhaps Boss wants to commend you for your dedication, or even compensate you for it.

I'm not sure why you are assuming it's to berate you over it?

[BeanMusical]

35. Your boss is such a fascist!

[NCTraveler]

38. It is a part of your compensation package.

It is clear you have never been taught or taken the time to understand employer compensation and that "cash" isn't all there is. You are literally willing to take a pay cut for no reason. At the same time I have a feeling your op is a joke and you aren't serious. You can't be. Fear of your boss is really the only other explanation. You aren't the only one with those feelings if that is the case. Decades of union busting has done that to the American psyche.

[Orsino]

41. Some labor laws still protect us...

...and some employers are smart enough--caring enough, even--to want us healthy and vacationed.

Presumably, the next Congress will be chipping away at whatever benevolence remains.

[MindPilot]

42. Vacation is a cruel joke

There is really no such thing. All time off does is make the work pile up at the beginning and end of the time off. And you are not really off since phone calls, emails and texts still have to be responded to.

If they can do without me for week, they can do without me forever. So I don't take it until I have to and then only one day at a time.

I prefer to look at accrued vacation time as layoff insurance.

[NCTraveler]

49. My employees are to never give their cell phone #'s to clients.

I have their emails covered when they leave. No phone # means they also get no texts. When they are gone everyone in the office chips in to cover their work. Sounds like you work in a pretty shitty place. I can do without any one of my employees for a week. I would be a pretty shitty business owner if I couldn't. Sounds like that is the type of owner you work for. I am a member of a business networking group and how you describe is not how most of them operate either.

When you say "no such thing," it is directed toward your situation, not everyone's or most.

I do agree with "If they can do without me for a week, they can do without me forever." Any employee at my business can walk out and I will be just fine. I wouldn't want that as I have hired extremely competent people with great ethics. That doesn't mean it wouldn't be business as usual if one just walked out. My newest employee has been with me for years. That doesn't include the guy who went to college and came back to work for me a couple of months ago after receiving his degree. I consider him to be a twelve year employee and I supported him during the two years he was gone.

[jeff47]

81. It's really lousy insurance

When the company goes under, they won't pay. And suing bankrupt companies that no longer exist for back wages is not very effective.

[el_bryanto]

43. Do you have the option to cash in your hours for money?

I know that at my company we have that option (which I exercise regularly) - and as such they won't let you get too many hours because of the potential financial liability.

At any rate, while you can live your life anyway you like, the truth is that most people would benefit from working less hours and having more vacations - the time they did work would be more productive, and frankly - it would help with employment issues. A lot of companies are requiring their employees to do the work of two; and it's destructive.

Bryant

[chrisa]

46. When did your boss become a member of Al Qaeda?

[ret5hd]

51. I don't vacation with you.

Or you us, obviously.

[PowerToThePeople]

55. Not sure family mf'ing values have anything to do with it

[Bluenorthwest]

56. Taking recreational time benefits you, your employer and your co-workers, having time with 'family'

is one thing a person might do with time away from work but a person with no family has an equal need for vacation and recreation. To refuse paid downtime is like refusing to eat, in the long run the saved minutes and dollars don't make up for the collapse of the overall system.

[4Q2u2]

57. Anger has a way of making people blind

The real selfishness is you not taking into consideration your fellow workers. That vacation time is part of a compensation package. With you not using all of that, you are opening up the rest of the workers to losing that benefit. It also allows a company to not hire more people and stagnate the economy and the country. With you willing to kill yourself at your desk and increase your productivity with out compensation, this allows a company to meet it's goals without having to properly invest in it's people or future.
You will be held up by management as the perfect employee and promptly used as a club to beat all others over the head until concessions are had.

"Why can't you be more like Bob, he never takes a day off works himself to the bone and never complains"

United we stand, Divided we BEG.

[SidDithers]

58. It's the RB TexLa show!...

New name, same curmudgeony goodness!!

Sid

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

69. Yeah - I responded in this thread and shouldn't have.

I'd either forgotten or had missed some of the more... controversial threads by this OP, which I now realize are either performance art or just good old-fashioned shit-stirring. I won't call the OP a troll because that isn't allowed; however, I do believe he likes to throw stink bombs and then sit back and watch the fun.

[etherealtruth]

60. perhaps your employer believes the company would benefit from you taking time off

Not taking vacation time is a bad idea, as it harms productivity and the economy. Those are key findings of a new study released earlier this month.

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tanyamohn/2014/02/28/take-a-vacation-its-good-for-productivity-and-the-economy-according-to-a-new-study/

[LiberalElite]

63. I was reminded a few months ago that I had to take some days off

before the end of the year or lose them. I had about a month's worth accumulated then. We're limited to carrying over 10 days to the next year.

[Posteritatis]

65. Hell of a thing to be offended by. (nt)

[Sopkoviak]

66. Maybe the boss doesn't fully trust you.

In the banking and financial services industries "mandatory time off", usually 14 consecutive days, is considered a "best practises" management and accounting policy.

The theory being that if you are up to no good it should show up in that time frame without you there to "cover your tracks".

After I left banking in the '70's I continued the practise in my own businesses with my financial and IT people. I knew too many business people that were screwed by their "trusted" long time bookkeeper or that amazing computer wizard.

FDIC:Risk Management

Section 4.2 - Internal Routine and Controls
Vacation Policies
All banks should have a vacation policy, which provides that officers and employees be absent from their duties for an uninterrupted period of not less than two consecutive weeks. Such a policy is considered an important internal safeguard largely because perpetration of an embezzlement of any substantial size usually requires the constant presence of the embezzler in order to manipulate records, respond to inquiries from customers or other employees, and otherwise prevent detection. Examiners and bank management should recognize that the benefits of this policy may be substantially, if not totally, eroded if the duties performed by an absent individual are not assumed by someone else. Where the bank's policy does not conform to the two-week recommended absence period, examiners should encourage the board of directors to annually review and approve the policy actually followed and the exceptions allowed. In such cases it is important that adequate compensating controls be devised and strictly enforced. If after consideration of all relevant facts and circumstances it is determined that the vacation policies are deficient, the matter should be discussed with the chief executive officer and the board of directors. Comments and recommendations on the supplemental Internal Routine and Controls schedule may be appropriate.

https://www.fdic.gov/regulations/safety/manual/section4-2.html

[SomethingFishy]

67. You live to work. I work to live.

There is nothing "selfish" about what I do. If you consider wanting to spend more time at work than you do with the people you love "selfish" then I feel sorry for you.

[Recursion]

71. More to the point, accrued vacation days have accounting implications

He may wish you had fewer accrued days as the new calendar year starts.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

73. My former employer (a very large corporation)

once had a policy that you could carry over your vacation time from one year to the next. There was one guy who never took a vacation for something like 15-20 years; then when he retired they had to pay him for all of that accrued time. Later the policy changed so that you had to take your vacation every year or you'd lose it. This was not only because it's better for employee productivity, but because the company had to list unpaid accrued vacation time as a debt on its balance sheet. The accountants didn't like this.

[Ramses]

74. are you saying taking vacation time is selfish?

Why should people have to work non stop without vacation or sick time.

Are you being sarcastic?

[gollygee]

77. They want to make sure you aren't getting burned out by work

It isn't selfish to take care of yourself and keep yourself in a good place so you are a better worker. It's OK to take some days off for youself.

[tenderfoot]

78. I'm sure "not spending more time at the office" will be one of your life's greatest regrets

when it's all over.

[gollygee]

79. RB TexLa is flagged for review

I hope he doesn't get axed. He has some odd ideas about things sometimes, but doesn't seem like a troll to me.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

80. I hope he sticks around just for the entertainment value.

He's a shit-stirrer, though maybe not a troll. But since he's also comic gold, I hope they let him stay.

[DisgustipatedinCA]

86. So how did it go?

i have this image in my head of you turning the boss's desk over when you found out you were getting an extra vacation day, yelling something about MF'ing family values. I hope you gave him hell for that (but not in the clock tower way).