Marina Yardaeva I change January one to April two 01/07/2025, 10:14

It’s the same every year. As soon as Russians go on Christmas break, a song begins describing the harms of a long weekend. Economists talk about job losses and say taking breaks for government workers isn’t good for the treasury. Doctors assure that irresponsible citizens are en masse indulged in various vices, diabetes is getting closer to them, ulcers and cirrhosis appear in others. Law enforcement officials also complain that people culturally do not know how to relax. And every year someone inevitably proposes canceling these holidays altogether.

These suggestions are, of course, tinged with cynicism. How does it feel to take away a worker’s well-deserved weekend? The authors of such initiatives are extremely distant from the public. However! Do you know? These holidays have really outlived their usefulness. Many people themselves reject them. Almost 40 percent of Russians work or earn extra money. But for those who still want to relax, it is not easy for them either: everywhere there are crowds and everything is more expensive than usual.

Three million citizens have planned trips within the country and abroad for late December and early January, but you can’t envy them either – now they are jostling among other tourists, standing in queues at museums and ice rinks, waiting an hour for their order in a restaurant. So I vowed not to travel during the holidays. Why travel! St. Since I live in St. Petersburg, I’m even afraid to go to the center these days. While I’m on the verge of madness at home, I like to spend as much general fun outside as possible. Although it is difficult with three children. Yes, and of course it’s sad for the weekend – you are also drawn into the world.

I wish we could take these holidays and reschedule them. No, not in May as is sometimes suggested. In general, there is no need to choose and fix a new period for holidays. Because the same eggs will hatch. So the same crowds, queues, crazy prices. So how can we turn holidays into a package of extra days off that everyone can actually take at different times of the year? No, of course, conditions can be negotiated for employees to inform management in advance of their desire to take a few days off. In fact, conditional January and May weekends can be added to the main holiday. And divide the vacation into two or three parts or take the whole month and a half at once. Whichever is suitable for you.

They will say that everyone is equally comfortable anyway. Everyone likes to take holidays in the summer or combine trips with the Christmas holidays. But there is no such thing. I’m the kind of person who would happily swap my two-month teaching vacation for a few short breaks in the fall and spring. I can’t stand the heat. Here is the sea – yes I love it very much. But not with skin, but with eyes. And in that sense, March is also great. Including some in the north. I would even say that the north in March is even better – no one spoils the view. In addition, it is more enjoyable to visit museums in the off-season. In fact, you may not get into them at all during the season. I remember once, with my children, we came to the Tretyakov Gallery on January 3, there a group of patients lay down for a kilometer and came back.

And it’s not just holidaymakers who feel good when they’re spread out over time and space, so to speak. After all, neither our tourism industry nor our entertainment sector (cultural or not) can withstand these sinusoids, sometimes empty, sometimes busy. Therefore, it would be very useful to distribute the demand.

And the employer has his own interest. Because even in sectors that seem unlikely to be affected by holiday disruptions, there is a need for a certain number of people ready to work on weekends and holidays. Even in the same schools. They organize camps in the summer, in June some teachers work on exams, in July they work on exams again, in some institutions at the beginning of January for some reason they hire duty officers with incomprehensible functionality, and some are persuaded to go to their classes. supposedly to Moscow or Kazan. And often they try to escape all this additional burden either in exchange for pennies or even in exchange for thanks.

It seems to me that I found everything very good. And only those who are always against can oppose. Like Baba Yaga. Who thinks that there is no need to postpone anything, just shorten the weekend? And transfer everyone to a period of six days. And for a ten-hour workday. And so life does not seem like honey. Otherwise, you know, no one would want to work. But the Japanese… What about the Japanese? By the way, I counted 15 weekdays in the production calendars for 2024. It’s exactly the same as what we have. And next year these samurai will have one more day off during the week than in Russia! And in the USA, for example, there will be such holidays for three weeks. They will say, but there is no normal holiday there. Yes, but it is calculated individually depending on the contract terms, position and length of service.

They will say that abroad they are still working as hard as ever, that this is capitalism. But these are only those who choose this for themselves. Some people may have this type of neurosis. Or who has nothing else to do. We also have such strange citizens; Not everyone knows where to rest on holiday, they are all bored. Therefore, no one will object to these people starting to work by taxi or delivery themselves. For example, of the 39% who decided to earn extra money during these holidays, 22% came up with the idea of ​​​​diversifying their lives. The other 6% make extra money as an animators: Santas and Snow Maidens – that’s a thing, too, of course. But this is optional. In addition, perhaps these Stakhanovites will later compensate for their shock work: in April they will go on vacation from their main place of work at their own expense and hurriedly go to Teriberka.

In general, there is a real problem with long weekends in our country. But not as imagined by officials who are concerned about the life and health of Russians. And not the way economists depict it in various complex graphs. Traditionally we have two problems. First of all, these weekends are very short. Secondly, there is no room for maneuver. Therefore, it would be good to make them more flexible. Good managers offer flexible schedules, especially to valued employees. So you can have your holiday this way. And immediately there will be more harmony in the world.

The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the position of the editors.