Holiday Emotions

Sometimes I hate myself.  Whilst there are many imperfections that I regularly get frustrated about, nothing makes me want to hang my head in shame than making bad, predictable jokes that make you look like a twat.

In the last couple of years, I have developed a habit of making a joke of incredible twatishness.  I am the person who makes jokes about colleagues using their holiday allocation.  I hate others who do it and I hate it when I do it, but before I can think of anything eloquent to say the following phrases leap from my mouth:

- "You're off again?!"

- "Is this another sabbatical?!"

- "Haven't you already had a day's holiday this year?"

- "Don't worry about us!"

It occurred to me the other day why I do this.  I'm trying to protect myself.  What I really want to do is scream "PLEASE DON'T LEAVE US, I'M SCARED THE COMPANY WILL FALL APART WITHOUT YOU" whilst clinging to their ankles and dragging them back to their desks.

This happens every time someone goes on holiday.
Source. CTLive.Info 

Now I appreciate that this might all come across as quite weird, but it is driven from a (largely) commercial and rational base. At Motors.co.uk, we're still a small company.  We're growing fast and there aren't enough hours in the day.  When people aren't there, their loss is felt.

People do need holiday and it's important to recharge one's batteries, but it's also important for people to know that they have a team that will welcome them back firmly when they return.  I may well look into a full, flag waiving hero's welcome for anyone taking more than 3 days off at any time.  

In the meantime, if anyone hears me joking about their upcoming holiday, just remember that I'm hurting.  As the wise Aswad sang: "Don't turn around, 'cause you're gonna see my heart breaking".

Potentially people will now find the emotional responsibility of taking holiday too much.  (have I just made a bad joke about people taking holiday?  Dammit!)