Published: November 26, 2008 09:04 am      

GESENHUES: Thank you Thanksgiving for the three-day work-week

There are a thousand thank yous I could give in honor of tomorrow's eat-the-day-away holiday. But this year I'm going to hang my gratitude hat on the three-day work week that Thanksgiving affords so many of us.

Sure I could give thanks for my family and friends, the delicious dinners I'll be enjoying tomorrow, and the good company I'll be keeping. But who wants to read another Thanksgiving-themed column where all the usuals get thanked? Besides, what's better than a three-day work week? I'll tell you what's better: the four-day weekend.

Just think of all you could do with a four-day weekend. More time to clean your home. More time to spend with your children. More time to follow you heart. You could read more if you wanted. Fish more. Spend all the time needed to take care of your landscaping. Renovate your house. You could make it to the gym more often and grocery shopping wouldn't be something you have to fit in on Sunday night. More road trips. More shopping trips.

But how do we convince the higher-ups who set the work week rules that a three-day work week will work? I think shopping is the solution.

Sometime during the 1920s, Henry Ford reduced his employee's labor hours and increased their wages to help our society move towards a more consumer-centric economy. He instituted the five-day/40-hour work week (a shorter work-week than most companies had at the time) so that his employees could be good consumers-consumers who bought stuff. He knew that if employees worked less and earned more they would have more time and more money to improve their quality of life (and buy more of his cars). Everybody won. His workers were happy and he was richer.

Maybe more time to shop is the shot in the arm our economy needs right now. More time off for consumers to be better at consuming. It worked in the 20s; I don't see why it would hurt to try it today. If we can throw $700 billion at Wall Street, we can give American workers two extra days a week. Even if we don't spend a whole lot more; we would be a whole lot happier. And couldn't corporate America use a bit more happiness?

When gas costs were on the rise, many companies instituted a four-day work week to help curb employee travel costs and create a more green work environment. Think how green we would be if we were only driving to work three days a week. Business offices would be energy-savers with lights, computers, phones, and faxes only running Monday through Wednesday. A four-day work week would be great, but a three-day work week would make the four-day week green with envy.

I'm leaving out one crucial detail out here-the work. How do we get our work completed with sixteen hours less to do it? I think it can be done. There are several ways to find extra time at work. We would have to cut all breaks long and short. No coffee breaks, no standing around the water cooler breaks, no smoke breaks. You would have to eat lunch at your desk while you work. Disabling shopping Web sites would be a huge help. Just think how much more productive you would be if you couldn't shop online during the day. And YouTube.com would have to go as well.

There would be no more lingering in your pal's cubicle talking about what happened on Top Chef the night before. Personal emails will have to be left for the two new days you'll have at home. And work meetings will have to be drastically reduced (most work meetings I attend are rarely that productive anyway).

Before I wrote this column, I went over my idea with my husband. His comments: “You're being funny, right? You don't really think a three-day work week is realistic, do you?” He wasn't buying what I was trying to sell.

First, I think anything is possible and if you ask you just may receive. Second, last Friday I read an editorial in here that actually referenced the end of times and commented that Obama may or may not be the anti-Christ. Personally, I think my three-day work week is a lot more buyable than equating our president-elect to a Biblical evil-doer. Sure, one has nothing to do with the other except for jumping the realism shark. But if I'm going to use this forum to persuade public opinion, I'd rather try to get more free-time than spread more unrealistic fear.