The things that are not said are often more telling than the things that are said. What is excluded is sometimes more meaningful than what is included. This applies to everything. We have already mentioned elsewhere that a book about history cannot possibly include all historical events. Just look at your daily newspaper, extrapolate it to every day of the year, and in every corner of the globe, as proof of that.
Yet, the “America Worker Vacations 2011” infographic does a better job than many others at including more information. Some of the factoids related solely to 2011. However, a few refer to the appropriate percentage for the previous year. For example, it is stated that 30% of workers will contact their colleagues while they are on vacation, and that this was an increase from the previous year in which 25% did so. Similar comparisons also showed an increase.
This is somewhat quizzical to us. In 2011, the economy was purportedly turning around and, as such, workers ought to have felt more comfortable and relaxed in their jobs. This apparently was not the actual case, though.
It is also quizzical and somewhat frustrating in that there was no comparison to other historical periods. Barring significant economic changes, such as those that occurred in 2008 and 1929, each year is not significantly different from year to year. 2012 was not much different from 2011 which was not much different from 2010. However, what could have been different is the years 2011 and 2001, the year after the bust of the dot-com bubble. Another difference is 2011 and 2006, the year before the first rumblings of the economic crisis. It would have been interesting to see how that affected workers’ actions on vacations.
Likes: This reiterates and reinforces some tidbits about vacations that are commonly stated.
Dislikes: As stated above, there is no real historical perspective.
