Following a recent conversation on Twitter, I had to laugh as I recalled this superb video (esp the introduction) from Guta entitled Vrea gagica mea la mare with the second line of the chorus being zice ca s-a saturat sa faca plaja in sat.

Roughly translated, this means “My woman wants to go to the seaside” (lit: Wants chick mine to the sea) and “She says she’s sick of working on her tan in the village” LOL.

I laugh because every single Romanian from age 12 to 60 knows that vacations (holidays) aren’t just a nice thing or something to enjoy once in a while but practically a fundamental right to which they are entitled.

Personally, I come from the complete opposite end of the spectrum where vacations were something so rare as to be almost non-existent. Time off meant time not making money and even when I could’ve been somewhere else, double pay was far too tempting. Not to mention the cultural pressure to bear down and keep on working.

“Vacation” time, where I come from, has nothing to do with time off during any specific holiday or cultural celebration, it is instead a kind of “bank” of time that’s quote unquote “earned” (I have to laugh bitterly just at the memory of this) from one’s employer that’s largely used to handle unplanned emergencies and urgent situations during the rest of the year.

Need to get off early to go to a doctor’s appointment? Go to a friend’s sports game? Pick up a friend whose car broke down? The easiest way is to use a few hours of “vacation” time for this.

Romanian holidays and getting time off from work (and paid!) on the other hand were part of the package deal of being a citizen here in Communist times. That same attitude has carried over here in the “democratic” times we’re living in now.

Approximately a third of all city workers are employed by the government in some fashion or another, and so they definitely get the time off to attend to their vacation needs. A great deal of other employers offer the same benefits as well.

Some holidays (Easter, Christmas) are lengthy and others are shorter but they occur numerous times throughout the year. Just like much of the rest of Europe, right now as I write this more than half of my city is closed for business.

It almost puts me in the stereotypical role of the elder who walked “10 miles in the snow uphill both ways” to school. The years of backbreaking work with little or no pause, the cultural fetish of worshipping overwork and the soul distress this caused all seem to be a fantastical and exaggerated tale that I barely believe even though it happened to me.

I heartily endorse Romanians’ (and other Europeans’) use of time off to relax, go visit beautiful natural spots, sleep, eat, drink and be merry with family, friends and loved ones.

I think what sticks in my throat is the level of petulance Romanians show when it comes to vacations. It’s sort of like the situation where you give a kid a piece of candy as a treat and then they whine for days about wanting more, making you regret your original generosity.

It makes me almost seem like some sort of firebrand libertarian to even say that but this culture of giving out vacations and holidays as some sort of expected treat truly does lead to a widespread puerile whinging, including the song linked above (although it is humorously resolved at the end of the clip).

Romanians (and Europeans in general) do have a tendency to pout their lips and get cranky when the government (or employer) doesn’t provide the goodies they’ve come to expect. But I guess what irks me the most is that Romanians simultaneously complain about their own country and life in it so much that even defending or praising Romania is seen as a kind of foolish naivete.

Any Romanian will breezily tell you to your face about how difficult and awful life here is after having had multiple vacations (with pay!) in the past calendar year. They’ve eaten their slanina and ceapa in the forest on May 1, they’re tanned from the seaside or pool in summer, they’re fat and full on Easter and they’ve gotten merrily drunk on New Year’s Eve and yet always the endless complaining, whinging and grousing.

That combined with your average Romanian’s ability to endlessly gloat and preen about their last vacation to somewhere amazing (bonus points if it was in a foreign country) and sometimes it’s enough to make you want to choke them :P

Hmm… seems like I’m getting a little grumpy here. Perhaps I need another vacation! Anyone feel like donating to a good cause? :D