If Only We Could Have The Cake & Eat It

In the advanced societies we live today, the relevance between work and leisure has changed with the times, together with other long established norms and systems we were used to before. If we ignore the governing factor, that to enjoy more leisure and pleasure, we have to have sufficient buying power, and that's where the conflict is. It can't be done. As the old saying goes, ' You can't have the cake and eat it '. Not that most of us wouldn't wish we could.

But people today, especially the younger work force, all want less working hours, even it means they have to sacrifice a percentage of the pay. Except that with the extra free hours or days, but less pay, they find that they can't, after all, do the things they have taken a smaller pay checque for, because they now do not have the purchasing powder to do so. What to do then with all those free hours?

What is foremost in people's mind in the modern times is to have more free days to enjoy life, so they shun any kind of employment that requires working on weekends. So much is this conviction, that unemployment rates are higher while many businesses, particularly those of hotels, restaurants, cafes, bars, and any entertainment enterprises, or public transport sectors, are terribly short of staff with too few applicants for the vacancies.

Too many people are getting unemployment benefits while waiting for the ideal jobs they are willing to accept. They want vacations, take part in sports or attend important matches, foreign travel to exotic places, more time with the family and more social life with friends. All great ideas and healthy incentives. The only drawback is they all require funds which nobody is willing to labour for. On the one hand, there are those who wish to work harder now to make enough money to enjoy quality leisure later. After debates and deliberations by the government for a couple of years, in Madrid anyway, shops and commercial establishments can adopt free opening hours, including 24 hour round the clock trade, from Monday through Saturday.

On the other hand, in Barcelona, there was a protest by dozens of young people, all dressed in medieval costumes, carrying assorted trade tools to represent the working class, and staged a peaceful march protesting the new law, that passed in Catalunya, depending on the final voting of the European Parliament, in favour of increasing the work-hour week from 48 up to 60-65 in some sectors. The procession / march was meant to indicate that the new law is going backwards in time to the long gone era. It was to the public more like street entertainment or, some sort of celebration in fancy costumes.

It's curious that Catalunya, that has the reputed characteristic of being a nation of hard workers, is protesting against long working hours, while many people in Madrid, who are supposed to be connoisseurs of good life and carefree living, are prepared to work the 24 hour day the whole week through.

Tags:pleasure,leisure,work

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