Lenka / October 10, 2004 6:49 PM

No, unfortunately I don't get Columbus Day off...even though I work at a major university in the Chicago area! But, we do get 7 "official" holidays - New Year's Day, Memorial
Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Thanksgiving Friday,
and Christmas Day.

Michael / October 10, 2004 8:59 PM

No...I don't get tomorrow off either. Furthermore, I work on a trading floor, and like banks, the stock market cannot be closed for more than three days in a row; this means I have had to work every Friday the day after Thanksgiving for the past six years. On the bright side, we are closed Martin Luther King's birthday and President's Day, which many people do not get off.

Shylo / October 10, 2004 9:55 PM

Punk, do I look like I work for a bank?

steven / October 11, 2004 6:50 AM

nope, at work as we speak. we get all the normal holidays though, plus the day after thanksgiving, christmas eve and new years eve. those last 2 weeks of the year are the best, esp if you use some vacation time.

Joe / October 11, 2004 7:34 AM

Yes...and I always use it to go exploring.

Once I found a small island in Lake Michigan populated with pygmies.

eep / October 11, 2004 8:54 AM

Of course not. >:(

I get New Year's Day, Memorial Day, 4th of July, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas Day off. Sometimes the bosses are nice and give us the day after Thanksgiving as a bonus. Sometimes. Also, there's "mandatory vacation" between Christmas and New Year's, which sucks if you want to take your vacation in, say, the summer. I'll be fighting this inane policy until the day I die.

Paul / October 11, 2004 9:10 AM

I don't, but every time there's a holiday like this (Pulaski Day, I'm looking at you) I want to be a teacher.

Alex / October 11, 2004 9:34 AM

I work in a school -- I get all the holidays off, plus spring and winter breaks. WEEE!!!!!!!

(And I had my husband take my son to daycare, so I get the entire day to myself. Dear god, can it be?)

lacey / October 11, 2004 9:36 AM

I don't get C-Day off, but I do get all federal holidays and Baha'i Holy Days off (there are about 9 holy days that fall on M-F this year).

Ken / October 11, 2004 9:51 AM

Obviously, some people get the day off because my normal 40 minute commute only took 20.

Bastards.

Thurston / October 11, 2004 10:04 AM

I don't ahve today off and have the typical corporate days off, which are not exceptionally generous in my opinion.

An interesting fact about our Labor Day every September: The concept of Labor day is an American one adopted the world over, and it was created to memorialize the Haymarket riots here in Chicago, which took place in May. Everywhere else in the world, Labor Day, or however it is termed, is celebrated in May, usually on the 1st. I guess we already had a May holiday so they put it in September instead.

Mike / October 11, 2004 10:12 AM

No, and I don't want it off. There shouldn't even be a Columbus Day. The man got lost, he tried to enslave everyone he found and when it turned out he had a potential guerilla war with them on his hands, he just killed them.
I'm going with AIM on this one and saying we should convert the day into a Native American cultural appreciation/awareness day. Oh, and then we should get the day off.

Andrew / October 11, 2004 10:15 AM

I'm aworkin'.

What's worst about my job is that I don't get paid vacation. The flipside is, I can work as many hours as I want (provided there's something to do), so I can earn a little extra cash if I need to. New kitchen, here we come!

Roni / October 11, 2004 10:36 AM

Nope...at work. Wish I was at home with Ella on her day off.

Vinny Delpusio / October 11, 2004 11:07 AM

I work for myself.

"Dayye uff?" What is this "Dayye uff?"

Phineas / October 11, 2004 12:30 PM

Even though most people don't get Columbus Day off, I hope you're all celebrating in the original spirit of the day. By which I mean cutting the hands off any Native Americans who fail to bring you enough gold.

daruma / October 11, 2004 12:30 PM

I work for a CPA, so we always take April 16 off.

Ken Meier / October 11, 2004 1:34 PM

Too bad April 16 falls on a Saturday in 2005.

pat / October 11, 2004 2:31 PM

Unfortunately, I'm working on this Columbus day. Usually I celebrate by wearing my Christopher Columbus necktie I got for some birthday some time ago (in which I was like, "When am I going to wear a Chris Columbus Tie?" answer: Columbus Day). But since I forgot to wear it, i guess I'll celebrate today by just getting lost while trying to find a faster way to the Devon and Western for some Indian food.

Usually just get the garden variety days off here. Xmas, New Years, 4th of July, Labor/memorial day.

Cinnamon / October 11, 2004 2:58 PM

I get lotsa days off. I work for a textbook publisher and a lot of our employees used to be teachers so I think they went on strike or something so we could get Columbus Day off.

Actually they discovered that if they gave us a few more days off then morale was higher. Since our corporate headquarters are in Boston we also get Patriot's Day off because that's when they run the Boston Marathon which happens to go directly in front of the building so people couldn't get to work even if they wanted to.

I love my job!

Steve / October 11, 2004 3:47 PM

Not a day off, nope. But I did take Columbus Day off a few years ago to drag my parents out of their safe suburban home to go look at big fiberglass cows and eat some cooked cow at the original Billy Goat....

We get the usual corporate holidays off, plus a few extras (Good Friday, day after T-giving, and an extra day at both Christmas and New Year's, giving us two days for each of them). That's 11 days hols per year total; not too shabby for a non-educational/non-banking concern in the U.S.

But when we look in the frontal matter of our global employee directory and see all the days they get off in other parts of the world, we all just sigh wistfully....

emily / October 11, 2004 4:31 PM

Nope. I get all the normal holidays off, and three weeks of paid vacation, though. We're busy busy busy right now, so even if today was a paid holiday I'd probably still be here.

paul / October 11, 2004 4:42 PM

Since I freelence I usually work when the clients want me, and not a moment more. Unfortunately my clients are working Columbus Day, so I'm working.

Lisa / October 11, 2004 6:07 PM

I'm a teacher, so yeah, I'm off on every holiday and then some.

It's a plus. On the downside, I have kids who come to me asking if I will to talk to their friend about her crotch rot because they are too embarrassed. Seriously. (I said no way, in case you are wondering.)

And I spent the entirety of my day off grading essays. Lots of essays.

Veronica / October 11, 2004 8:45 PM

Nope. I work at the Art Institute, so I busy serving all of you who do get the day off. We don't get any holidays except Thanksgiving and Christmas. Maybe New Year's, but I haven't worked there long enough to know about that.

Veronica / October 11, 2004 8:50 PM

Argh. Was busy. I didn't proofread.

jenny / October 11, 2004 10:59 PM

Wrong question.

Columbus Day is one of the f*cking hardest days of the year for me, because we have this HUGE event at work where hundreds of anxious kids and their more anxious parents descend on my institution for the day...I LOVE these people, they're the reason I love my job, but on Columbus Day, my job is to make sure that EVERY detail is in place, and to cattle-prod co-workers into getting s**t done.

This year, I flew in from the East Coast 30 hours before the event, and as I write, 6 hours later, I'm back on the East Coast.

Columbus Day...Thank GOD it's only once a year.

jenny / October 11, 2004 11:03 PM

Wow. Serious bitching and moaning. Sorry. It must be bedtime for bonzo (an expression all you parents out there should adopt in getting your kids into bed).