For a four day work week!

When I was little, I can remember older people saying all sorts of cryptic things that didn’t make sense, with one of the key offenders being the expression “youth is wasted on the young.”

At the time this was a befuddling and slightly offensive thing for someone to say. “How is youth wasted on the young?” I can remember thinking, somewhat hurt, “Weren’t you young once, too? Was that a waste also?”

Now that I’m a bit older, a tiny bit wiser, (and suddenly jealous of 18 year olds that have their whole life ahead of them— I’m 28)—I am starting to appreciate the meaning behind the expression. In short, it just is a way of lamenting how quickly life goes by…

In this vein, it has always seemed like a cruel joke that the majority of our adult lives are spent unhappily doing something other than what we want. Consider; out of the 7 days that make up a week, only 2 of those days are free to be lived however one chooses. You are told during your “prime” working years to work as hard as you can, so that you can save as much money as possible for your life after retirement—so that the period of your life when you are at your physical peak, you are slaving away to prepare for a time when your quality of life may not be so naturally easy. All of this makes it seem to me that the expression should really be something like, “youth is wasted at work.”

After being fortunate enough to schedule and experience such a thing in college, I often day-dream about how awesome it would be in the real world to have a standard work week that consisted of 4 long, hard days, with a 3 day weekend. As I have sadly accepted my “grown-up” status, this fantasy has been mentally filed away, next to the “Surprise! You’re really a princess!” fantasy file.

It goes to show that anything is possible though—as I recently caught wind of news that my idealized 4 day work week scenario was actually a reality, and happening —right now— in major cities across our great country.

Due to budget concerns, the powers that be in Salt Lake City, Utah decided to do something a little different in the hopes of achieving something drastically different. As of August 2008, all state offices have been closed every Friday, in order to cut down the utility expenses by 20%. (One day less a week that the buildings need to be run and maintained.)

As would be expected, the employees loved this. A survey conducted by Brigham Young's Lori Wadsworth found that 82 percent of employees want to keep the four-day workweek. Their pay wasn’t being affected—they were still working 40 hours a week, their previous 8 hour days were extended to 10 hour days—and now their free time was being increased exponentially with which they could exercise, spend time with their families, volunteer, and travel. Aside from improved day to day morale, the new scheduling also seemed to have a positive effect on overall employee health, with fewer instances of sick days. Because of the longer days, productivity actually increased—for instance, there were shorter waits at the DMV due to the longer hours.


Bettering the quality of life for a large group of people is a wonderful thing, but this 4 day plan was implemented for financial gain (always comes back to money), and it is estimated that the city was able to save 1.8 million dollars just from this new scheduling. Having the office buildings closed on Fridays allowed the city to save all of the money that would have gone into keeping the place operational; now there was an entire day less to provide electricity for, an entire day less that the work force needed to be commuting, causing wear and tear on the roads, and an entire day less that required cleaning/security/maintenance services. Since the employees really enjoyed their new schedule, they were doing everything they could to empower the initiative, going so far as to make sure every appliance from computer to coffee maker was unplugged before they left for their long weekends on Thursday night. While the money saved made the local government happy, it was this saving of resources that piqued the environmentalists’ curiosity, and after a year’s time, Scientific American came in to research the effects— good or bad— that this 4 day work week was having on the surrounding environment.

Although the language is nerdier than mine (in my opinion?), I’m not sure I can explain it better that the Scientific American reports:

An interim report released by the Utah state government in February projected a drop of at least 6,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually from Friday building shutdowns. If reductions in greenhouse gases from commuting are included, the state would check the generation of at least 12,000 metric tons of CO2—the equivalent of taking about 2,300 cars off the road for one year.

And that’s just one nerdy-expert take on the situation. Aaron Newton, a frequent contributor to the GroovyGreen blog, did some different math and came out other inspiring statistics:

Approximately 106 million Americans drive to work alone each day, an average of 16 miles each way. Cutting out one workday's worth of commuting would not only lower U.S. oil imports by 5 to 10 percent, it would also prevent thousands of traffic fatalities, as well as cut down on the costs of road maintenance, since people tend to drive less on weekends. And workers would see a real income boost by saving on gas.

The 4 day work week has been going on in Utah for almost exactly a year at this point, and due to the positive outcomes shown so far, other citiess like New York and Boulder are considering trying it out themselves. (Mayor Bloomberg could nix the stupid soda tax, and save money for his city while keeping them happy.)

From my personal experience, I think this would also have positive implications for the economy from a consumer stand-point. With more free time on their hands, people would be more apt to spend money on fun things, like traveling, shopping, and all sorts of other entertainment ventures. The government could save money, positively affect the environment, make their people happier and more productive, while increasing cash flow into the economy.



Reviewing all of the facts pertaining to a 4 day work week, I can't help but wonder if I am being naive, or biased? Does my personal inclination for this prevent me from seeing the down-side? Clearly not every business could afford to adapt this new 4 day schedule, as restaurants, stores, and other service related industries would have to be open to serve the people who were now off from work, but perhaps the 4 day work weeks could just be staggered a bit (the way days off are now), and the people in those industries would take Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday off, since the majority of their clientele would be working on those days anyway.



I'm going to hold out hope that this practice will slowly but surely become a more wide-spread practice, so that we can have more freedom to enjoy more of what life has to offer.

Apple for Teacher

When I was in elementary school, there were multiple parts of the school year that I looked forward to…

Back-to-school was always fun and exciting; getting your brand new seating arrangements and organizing all of your new school gear neatly into your Trapper Keeper, making friends with the kids sitting next to you (that kid also coincidentally seemed to have a last name that began with the same letters as mine?) and deciding on who your new crush for that year was going to be...ah yes, these were all high-lights of early September...

As the school year progressed, and the holidays drew closer, the festivities became almost palpable. There were Turkeys made out of the shape of your hand, pilgrim and Indian head-dresses to create and wear, and the inevitable movies that the teachers would put on because they were more ready for a break then we were… (I remember seeing "Sandlot" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" a lot?)

Come February, it was always so fun to go home after Valentine’s Day and empty out your construction paper and lace “mailbox” to see what your crush had written to you on his Snoopy V-day card, and giggle over the silly heart candy messages. (“Gimme a kiss”? Ewww!!)

But my most favorite time of the school year was the very end of it- and not for the reasons you’d expect. Just as we were required to clean out our desks, all of the teachers were likewise responsible for emptying everything out of their classrooms. They would end up with boxes and boxes of unused dittos and worksheets that would be up for grabs, and I used to dive in there like a crazed Carrie Bradshaw at a Manolo sample sale. Sure, it could get violent, and there were threats of “Bitch, I’ll cut you!” and yes, this resulted in numerous nasty paper cuts... but in the end,I’d get off the bus content with the knowledge that my book-bag was crammed full of worksheets and tests, and as I walked home I would day-dream about how much fun it was going to be to wile away the long summer days playing school with my little sisters… (and then there was that one summer when I tried to put a new spin on the game and try something new, something I had coined “Catholic" school. I think they probably learned a lot that summer?)

Anyway, we would sit in the air-conditioned playroom, and go through tons and tons and tons of math exercises, brain-storming activities, and sentence diagramming worksheets. If they got it wrong, they had to do it over! In retrospect, two thoughts:

1. They should really thank me.
2. God that was a lot of paper!

My littlest sister is now in the 9th grade, and in her highly evolved high-school-- paper has become a thing of the past. (She probably doesn’t even know what a “ditto” is? Was?) On the first day of school, every student is issued their very own Apple MacBook. Freshman year, they are all required to take a basic computer class, so that even though most of them already know how to get around on a computer, the school makes sure that everyone is coming from the same computer building blocks.

Because each student has their own computer, information can be instantly shared electronically and without paper. Bad news for Dunder Mifflin, but good news for the trees! Homework, work-sheets, articles, and even tests and quizzes can be shared via the net. Essays are submitted electronically too, and as they are being handed in to teacher, they are simultaneously being run through a computer program that scans each paper and makes sure no parts of it have been plagiarized.

Even their textbooks are on the web! Students no longer have to be bogged down with heavy books, that may or may not cause scoliosis. Now, with only a click of the mouse they can get right to Chapter 9, and answer the comprehension questions at the end.

Every teacher has their own network to which their students can access to get their homework assignments, do extra credit, check their grades, etc. Likewise, the teachers can then see how often and frequently each student is accessing their stuff.

Appropriate security measures have been added to the computers, since they know that kids just love to get into things they shouldn't... the school-issued computers have restricted Internet access so that the students are only able to access approved sites. No financial transactions can take place over the school-owned computer, and the school employed tech-support team can access anything on any student’s computer at anytime. (There should be nothing sensitive on the computer, so there is no need for anything on their computers to be considered private or that school officials should be barred from viewing. )

It’s so weird to me to imagine what a normal day in high-school is like now, because I remember being in the fourth grade and having Mrs. Widman tell us that in 15 years there were going to be computers the size of notebooks, and everyone would have one. It was fun to think about at the time, but seemed like a crazy science-fiction premise-- one which would surely could never happen? And now… here we are, lap-top computers doled out instead of text-books! Is this how our grand-parents felt when they were kids, and heard that someday a man could walk on the moon?

As Whitney once sang, the children are our future…

Beside’s drastically cutting down on paper use, having kids grow-up on computers is helping the environment by making sure that our nation’s future leaders are being properly groomed and prepared for the world they will live in. Everything is becoming more and more the Internet dependent, and computers are becoming more and more integral to everyday life.

My sister says that having a computer in front of her all day has helped her in many important ways. For one, she has become a more savvy problem solver by being forced to figure out how to obtain information whatever information she needs at that moment. She knows that everything she needs is right at her fingertips, and she just needs to figure out the best way to get it. She is also learning how to manage her time better by becoming an extremely efficient multi-tasker. A usual night consists of her listening to iTunes while IMing with at least 5 friends, all while researching and writing a paper in Spanish. (And maybe playing Word Whomp to help with writer's block.) The fact that mastering PowerPoint, Excel, and Word don’t even come up in conversation with her about the pro’s of having a computer assigned to her in school is indicative of how taken for granted and commonplace these skills have become to her-- and how thoroughly more prepared she will be for any future job.

By ensuring kids' comfort level with computer maneuvering, we’re saving one resource while strengthening another. These schools should be credited for creating more productive members of society, who will be more valued in the work-place and more acclimated to the tools they will need to succeed.

USA Today reports that schools that have been experimenting with this practice are showing positive findings. Student’s display an increased amount of participation, and feel more motivated to get their school-work done. (Maybe because it’s more fun to do work on a computer? Or because you can socialize or find ways to amuse yourself while getting unpleasant things done?)

Recently, there has been a lot of media coverage about teenagers putting inappropriate pictures of themselves online. Even the most seemingly innocent of star tweens have been busted (ha) for overtly sexual pictures being released online. Disney cash cows Vanessa Hudgens and Miley Cyrus are both guilty of this, and obviously this is something that some parents fear as reason to not give their kids full use of a computer. Really though, a ho is a ho is a ho, and ho’s are going to act like ho’s whether they have computers or not. Nice kids aren’t going to get computers with web-cams, and all of a sudden want to turn into home-made porn stars. Yes, as can be witnessed with my sister, there is rampant flirting via instant messaging and emails… but flirting would be occurring with or without computers also, and has just evolved as an art form to meet the current times.

Hopefully schools will continue to go down this path, and the Apples that fall into the classrooms can prevent forests of fallen trees...

My contribution to Darwin...

Today would have been Charles Darwin’s 200th birthday. (And coincidentally, also Abraham Lincoln’s.)

In celebration and recognition of Darwin’s b-day, on the radio this morning they were talking all about him and his contributions to science with the whole “survival of the fittest” theory.

They had an expert on evolution on, who was sharing interesting “survival of the fittest” anecdotes. For instance,did you know that different colored swans have different colored lice living on them, so that the swans are unable to see the lice on each other and nip them off? True story- even the smallest creatures in the “swamp niche” [radio guy’s words, not mine] have evolved themselves in order to survive and prosper. (Even lice can live the American Dream!)

Upon hearing this, my brain naturally started spinning in a million different directions with all of the implications of Darwin’s findings. Evolution. Survival. Adaptability. Looking hot... hey, looking hot is really what “natural selection” is all about.

The whole “survival of the fittest,” and “natural selection” ideas all really come down to one thing- why different species choose whom (or what, depending on the species?) they mate with. The best-looking members are the ones most likely to be selected by the opposite sex to mate with. Why? Because the physical appearance of something subconsciously and instantly alerts to the health and vitality of the being in question.

**This is one of my favorite games, so I love that I can interject it real fast in here to prove my point!**

Would you rather… have Zac Efron or Harrison Ford, father your children?

Both are handsome, charming, and more than capable of providing for you and your brood. Chances are though, you’d probably pick Zac because you instinctively know that he is younger, and therefore more fertile and virile.

Would you rather… have kids with someone who had lost both legs in a car accident, or had been born with Downs Syndrome?

Both obviously have handi-caps that would need to be dealt with daily, for the remainder of their (and your) lives. But, you’d probably pick the amputee, because subconsciously the appearance of the person with Downs Syndrome is alerting you to the fact that there is something wrong with their genes, and their genes would not be the best to pass along to your children. The person who lost their legs would be the better choice, as there was not something congenitally wrong with them and that would bode the best for your children between the two choices.

Amy Winehouse, or Taylor Swift?

Without either one of them even opening their mouths, you can tell just by looking that Amy Winehouse is a hot-mess, whereas Taylor Swift looks healthy and clean.

For animals, that generally have much shorter life-spans than humans, I totally buy the idea of survival of the fittest, with the “fittest” pairing off and reproducing as soon as physically possible. When the length of life is so unpredictable, they undoubtedly feel a burning drive to reproduce, and get their offspring out into the world as soon as they can. For humans though, arguably the most evolved life form on the planet, I think it works the opposite.

Nature is so elegant, and everything evolves so perfectly it’s scary. As the human race progresses, those major fertility indicators, such as appearance, can be more and more controlled. Whereas the condition of human hair and teeth used to speak volumes about a person’s well-being and health, these attributes can all be controlled and contrived now. The appearance of youth, femininity (i.e. big boobs), hair color, thickness of eye-lashes, even odor, can be manipulated to confuse and trick the opposite sex’s senses. Because of this, I think that the idea of human “natural selection” has flip-flopped from that of animals.

My sister and her best-friend have an ongoing joke about this, that every crack-head they know is getting engaged (much to their single chagrin).

They’re right though. It seems like the crappiest people keep pairing off, two by two, while the quality people remain single. (Of course there are exceptions to this, please don’t be offended if you’re one of lucky, normal ones that found true love at a young age.)Are humans going through the opposite process of animals’ natural selection, where those with the less than desirable genes take themselves out of the pool early (and settle), so that those with the good genes, who are pickier and smarter, wait until they meet people who are worthwhile to procreate with?
I think, yes.

Case study 1: Heidi Ho

Unfortunately for me, I used to be a manager at Abercrombie & Fitch. The then 22 year old manager, (let’s call her Heidi Ho- and off to work she LOVED to go), was one of the biggest whores I’ve ever encountered. She’d try with moderate degrees of success to seduce our 17 year old employees, would stay at work after the mall had closed in order to get gang-banged in the near-by Hollister, and could not go one day without running into at least one person she had “known” (but whose name she could not necessarily remember) in the biblical sense. At the time, it was amusing to hear her tail tales in a morbid/sordid/outrageous, can’t-help-but-look-at the-car-accident way kind of way.

And then she got engaged. To her super hot, super nice boyfriend. WTF?!

This was a few years ago, and I honestly hadn’t thought about this girl in ages. Until... my sister and I were in A&F the other day during my search for the perfect pair of baggy and distressed boyfriend jeans, my sister started doing her thang and chatting up everyone around her. It just so happened that the new store manager was the one ringing us up, and since my sister of course brought up the fact that we both used to work there (yeah, total nepotism- I hired her, and then subsequently fired her about a month later. In my bedroom, very professional I know, because we had gotten into a fight about something so stupid I can't even remember what it was. Probably went down something like this, “You’re such a bitch!” “Yeah, well, you’re fired!” In hindsight, I wish I had the sass to incorporate the appropriate Donald Trump hand gesture right there.) , and that’s when the name dropping began.

“Did you know so-and-so?” Heidi Ho’s name quickly came up, and we were informed that she had apparently just left A&F for an assistant managerial position with Wal-Mart. And she was engaged, again. To another guy!

Case Study 2: Abbie Sara Stephens (Yup, her initials were ASS, regardless of how you prefer to arrange initials. Ironic, ain't it?)

This girl, literally, was a crack-head. She woke up, rolled out of bed and rolled a joint. She'd smoke it, go to class, do some coke instead of lunch, go home, and then drink until she passed out. And oh yeah, slept with every dude that crossed her path. This went on for a few years until her parents put her in rehab. When she got out, she was better, in the sense that she wasn’t sticking needles in between her toes and getting them stuck there anymore, but she was still smoking herbs and doing lots of dudes. Her one boyfriend broke up with her, because he hacked into her computer, and on the web-cam caught her having sex with a group of multi-racial dudes. (She was an equal opportunity whore.)

Guess the ending to this one yet? Yup- this girl’s engaged too.

You probably all know girls and guys, exactly like this, while your best friend, who is the best person in the world, remains single because she won't date every loser that she meets.

So, here’s my theory Darwin. The way that the fittest survive has evolved, and now the people that have the genes worth sharing, are more selective in whom they share with. Thoughts?