You have to ask why people take Ambien?



Every day I wake up and I punish myself. Just as sure as those self-abasers in times of old. How do I do it in today's modern society? I turn on the news.

See, the media makes me totally insane with their continual idiocy. Or perhaps its their ADD, I'm not sure which.

I awoke this week to a story on the Today Show about a new classification of driving impairment being called DUIA - Driving Under the Influence of Ambien. Ambien you see is a sleeping aid and it warns the user that when taken - you must be careful to dedicate a full 8 hours to rest. It seems that people are using this sleeping aid to compensate for a lack of sleep, and it further seems that the result is similar to driving under the influence of alcohol.

The question posed was, why are so many people on this sleep aid? It would seem to me that you, the media, have already answered this question - you just can't connect the dots - so allow me.

Every year you report how many more hours we Americans are working than last year, than five years ago, than our parents. Now, I don't have the national figures - so I will just use myself as a test case.

In 1981 I entered into the professional work force. I worked a straight 40 hour work week on salary. Sometimes I worked a little more, sometimes a little less. But, I had unlimited sick days; 30 days per year of vacation and about 10 holidays.

It's now 25 years later - where do I stand?

I was hired to work a straight 40 hour work week on salary. Rarely to I work less than 50 hours per week. I have just reached 15 days of vacation at my current company, I have 12 holidays and 0 (zero) sick days. So in twenty five years of corporate climbinb I have lost all my sick time and 15 days of vacation PER YEAR. There is something wrong with that. If this keeps up, since I am 43, at the age of retirement (27 years from now) I would have worked myself up to 9 vacation days, 6 holidays and no sick time. Oh joy - I can't wait.

Then the media has the gall to complain about the number of unemployed. Of course more people are unemployed you morons - its because those of us still working are "doing more with less". Remember that phrase? Here is how it works.

Let's say that you run a company. Despite media desires - your job is to make money, not to hire everyone you can - but everyone you need. So figure that your business runs 52 weeks per year. At five days per week thats roughly 260 man days per year. So, you need to hire enough employees to perform 1 man year of work (or 260 days of labor).

Now, lets say that your company provides 20 days of vacation per year, 10 holidays per year and 0 sick days.

This means that for every 13 workers, you need to hire 14 people. Why? Because 13 workers taking 20 vacation days per year = 260 vacation days, or 1 man year. Add that 1 man year back into your labor category of 13 people and you get 14 employees.

Simplistic - but true.

Fewer vacation days = fewer employees required to do the same job.

So, if you want to cut employment you simply have to increase the number of vacation days. Better yet, why not just go to a 20 hour work week? Think of the benefits.

Your company could run 7 days per week. You would hire, basically, two shifts of workers. The first shift would work from 8-5 on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday - then from 8 to noon on Wednesday. The second shift would work Noon to 5 on Wednesday, and 8 to 5 on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Your workforce then would instantly double. Your business would grow. Your group insurance would double - so your insurance rates should almost half.

Republicans would be happy because twice as many people would be paying insurance, half as many people would be collecting unemployment and national gross product would increase.

Democrats would be happy because of a lowered unemployment rate, increase in revenues, and half of everyone's salary would go to everyone else..... WHAT?

You don't get that last one? Well a company can't continue to pay you for 40 hours of labor if you are only working 20 hours per week you see? But - the greater good is met. Everyone is happy. Now - where to get the employees? And there is the rub.

Despite what the media would have us believe, that unemployment is the result of this President or that one, it is actually much more complicated. The fact of the matter is that employees are just hard to find.

A manager once told me that one in ten applicants is qualified enough to bring in for an interview. Out of those interviews, one in ten might be qualified enough for you to actually offer the job. For those of you keeping track thats about one in a hundred. From those you offer the job, they may or may not take the job for any number of reasons including salary rate, vacation time, location of the job - whatever. About 1 in 3 that you offer the job will actually accept. Again, for those of you keeping track thats about one in three hundred applicants. Let's call it 1/250.

So when you get right down to it, new employees are hard to find. And, when you do find that one out of nearly three hundred, and he or she takes the job - typically you have an intelligent dedicated employee. You have an employee who is happy to be employed, one who is professional and wants to keep the job because they understand how hard it is to actually get a job. So when the company reduces their vacation from 20 to 15 days per year, and works them 50 or 60 hours instead of the 40 they were hired to do - the only recourse an intelligent employee has is to pop another Ambien and hope for a good 4 to 6 hours of rest.

Posted: Fri - March 10, 2006 at 06:48 PM   If this blog entry was of use to you, why not show your appreciation by donating to support the site? Just click on the MAKE A DONATION button on the right hand side of the page! It's all handled by PAYPAL.
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