What is that commercial they show on television, where the guy takes his pager and skips it across the ocean? You know the one that I am talking about here? Where they are on the beach, relaxing in a chair somewhere and it is warm, inviting, calm and serene. I believe the name of the beverage is Corona, a lite beer.
The beach … take me to the beach. Yeah, that is where I want to be.
I am hearing all of these new words coming into the American mainstream. It might just be Oklahoma, we have some pretty weird photo journalists and reporters around here. One word I have heard is “Playcation” (play-kay-shun) and another is “Staycation” (Stay-Kay-shun). The first words meaning I am not all that sure of, I thought the word “vacation was fine, vacation worked for me or as they say in the U.K. On Holiday.”
The second word is termed to mean, staying close to the home fires, vacationing “in state” and finding all the wonderful things in the State Of Oklahoma that there is to enjoy. Even Expedia.com has been spreading for years the term “Vacation deprivation.”
Now I know to some, this might sound strange. But I live in a state that refers to a horse track with a casino as a “Racino?” So you make the call.
All of this new word usage is being brought on by the high cost of motor-fuel and often futile attempts at finding something rather “cheap to do” because of the lack of discretionary income available to most Amercians because of the high cost of fuel. From a personal viewpoint, I would rather get outta Oklahoma, the whole point of a vacation to me being, going somewhere new and different.
Let’s face it.
American’s spend more time in the bathroom than they do on vacation. If you look at the average European and what kind of vacation he has, we come off as mere pikers. Americans are vacation-phobes. The Italians unplug for an average of 42 days per year. The french get 37 vacation days, the Germans 35.
It appears that we are developing a “bunker mentality” and hunkering down for the summer. Some of us are not going to get sunburned, poison ivy, sleep in an airport, get headaches. We are just going to sit home on “staycayshuns” and the people who possibly need it the most, will more than likely cancel.
We here in America, average about 13 days and that is a full 50% less than our neighbor’s to the North in Canada. When we do take time off, it’s in spurts and false starts. Only 14% of Americans take two weeks or more vacation at a time. Unless of course, you are lucky enough to live where Radio Girl lives, she is on vacation almost every dog-gone weekend …… Man, I bet that is nice.
We more than likely need vacations more now than ever before. They are not a luxury, but rather a necessity. You do not take a vacation and you are a prime candidate for a heart attack, stroke or heart disease recent studies have revealed. All work and no play, is killing us. Just getting on a plane and flying off, or lying on a sandy beach somewhere is not enough. We “need” to be somewhere else, to smell fresh smells, see new sights, rejuvenate the spirit.
Staying home, because of $4 gasoline is not a vacation at all. In some cases, it is literally a death sentence. You know, I retired in ’91 and I have done quite well.
Just the other day, I was over at the Hardware store, and I ran into one of my old buddies and he asked of me, “What have you been doing with yourself?” and I answered back, “Well, I just got back off vacation, we went to Montana for a couple of weeks.”
He just smiled and said, “How do you KNOW when you are on vacation and not on vacation?”
Good point.
I guess it just depends on where you are standing geographically speaking at the time.
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