On Labor Day, the St.

Wednesday, September 08, 1999

On Labor Day, the St. Paul Pioneer Press led with a story about the call for parents to have a shorter work week, and the benefits of such a move for children and families. They quoted a psychologist, Greenspan his name, who initiated this revolutionary call.

Revolutionary? Obvious is more appropriate.

How is that we’re nearing the year 2000, yet many Americans work more than their predecessors? Used to be only Dad had a long work week to bring home the dough, now both Mom and Dad do.

And where, exactly, does it get them?

Many Americans only get two weeks paid vacation per year, while our counterparts in Europe can idle for up to six or eight weeks on the company payroll. As a waitress in England I was eligible for two weeks paid vacation my first year on the job, which would have climbed to six if I’d ever managed to be employed for three consecutive years. Here I’m looking at two for a long, long time.

So, you don’t necessarily get more vacation time for your effort.

What about overall better quality of life?

Americans spend less time cooking than ever before, and eat out more. Isn’t it wonderful that Beijing, Moscow and nearly every other city in the world can boast of offering real American cuisine: McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, Burger King, even Taco Bell has a restaurant in central London.

Our food certainly isn’t getting better.

Our healthcare is, but read the many articles and arguments about the decreasing accessibility of healthcare due to the emergence of HMOs. Imagine someone sitting at a desk in Atlanta, Ga, deciding whether or not you qualified for a particular treatment. Imagine being denied a bone marrow transplant when you had breast cancer, then getting permission too late – and only with the intervention of your state representative – to do any good.

And wonder how many men and women aren’t insured at all, who can’t afford the ever-increasing costs of getting better. No insurance? Better not need any kind of operation, there will probably be a lien on your property for the rest of your life.

As for medication, why do Canadians pay something like half the cost for the same prescription drugs?

Yes, you say, but all this hard work must surely pay off in putting our children ahead of the rest of the world. The little darlings must be better educated than most, more inventive, a brilliant example for the rest of the world to follow.

Some of them are.

Most of the time that American students make the news, however, is when someone does one of those general information polls and asks thousands of American kids where Europe is located and they point to Japan or something equally embarrassing like not knowing who the Vice President is. Either that, or when a couple of them bring semi-automatic weapons to school and pretend they’re Rambo, only it’s for real.

What that longer work week and two working parents does get our children is lots of stuff. Tennis shoes that cost $100, Gap khakis, Nintendo, computers, camcorders, cars and cell phones. Mom and Dad get the latest time-saving appliances and hire a service to spray and cut the lawn.

Quality of life? Depends on your definition.