Vacation? What Vacation????

There's an article in the New York Times that mentions how many workers don't take vacations because it's frowned upon at their companies. So they let their vacation days roll over into the next year, or simply lose them. Talk about stupid. Giving up free days off is like paying someone to allow you to work. On the other hand, you could also argue that internships and college are just that: paying for the honor of working. At least there's an end in sight to college and internships. Paid employment? The way things are shaping up, it looks like I'll be working until the day I drop dead.

In real estate, true vacations are few and far between, at least in my world. The idea of paid days off makes me swoon. The last time I had a proper vacation was well over three years ago, and it's worth noting that that epic trip predates my real estate career. Which is why reading about people who forfeit paid time off made me want to slap all of them.

Bosses frowning upon vacation time? Welcome to real estate. In fact, I'll never forget a boss giving me hell in the beginning of my career. I'd been working two or three months non-stop. Seven days a week with no deals closed. Yet I continued on, exhausted, and broke, but gamely struggling to look happy about while simultaneously wanting to kill anyone who got too close to me on the train or called me too many times on the phone. The strain was starting to get to me, and I needed a break. A short one.

So I took one. A weekend off. How novel it all felt! I felt much better-- re-energized and refreshed and all that. Until Boss reprimanded me when I got back on Monday after a whopping two days off. Boss seemed to conveniently forget that most normal people get two days off every week. Just because Boss spent most of his or her twenties working doesn't mean such a schedule is healthy for me, or any other relatively normal person. Whatever. Boss didn't care. Apparently real estate agents are super-human.

My solution? I became passive aggressive, and rarely announce or "ask" any days off unless I will be gone for, say, a four-day weekend out of state or a weeklong jaunt.(Most of these trips involve family, therefore, in my mind, said trips are not true vacations). Still, I always feel guilty. And Boss always makes sure to text message me or call me at least once or twice. Whoever is covering for me inevitably will call a few times with questions. Clueless brokers will ignore my outgoing message and beg me to call them back, ". . .even though I know you're away and your message says you're not returning phone calls until you get back. But if you get a second. . . "

Sometimes I ignore these calls and text messages. I am NOT working when I am on fucking vacation, people! Whether I ignore or answer the calls, they always annoy me and I can feel my blood pressure rising. I try to believe in Karma and not do the same things to them when they're away, hoping they'll take notice. Maybe in another lifetime.

Some agents take long trips, especially in the winter. One guy agent I know makes a few deals, then takes the cash to some gambling outpost and presumably burns through it until he has to come back and make more deals. This sort of high-rolling hasn't been an option for me, because in the winter, it seems it's all I can do to keep the rent on my apartment current. (Adding insult, the boiler in my building seems timed to stop working on the coldest days of the year, but that's another entry.)

Flexibility is one of the aspects of this job that appealed to me in the first place. But what good is all the flexibility in the world if you're constantly made to feel bad for taking any time off, and can hardly afford to do so in the first place? That's the question I've been asking myself a lot lately.