Many of us have had an extended vacation from the cubicle… only to find that we have a knack of isolating any space into a cubicle, as long as there is a place to hang our (noise canceling) headphones and our (virtual background enabled) web cam.

We also seem to have a knack for kidding ourselves that a holiday is as good as a vacation.

I have lived in the USA long enough to understand that Memorial Day and Labor Day mark the beginning and the end of the summer holidays in the USA.

But I still don’t understand the American version of holidays. As far as I know, a holiday is one day when the law or custom dictates that you don’t have to go to work.

Here’s the bit I don’t understand. Why do so many Americans treat a holiday like a vacation? Surely, a vacation happens when you spend many consecutive days away from work and, hopefully, away from where you live.

A vacation is a time to rest and recharge, fully, so that when you get back to the office (wherever that is), the office knows that you are back, all of you, energized!

Instead, these brief, frantic holidays-as-vacations leave us stressed, tired and relieved to be back in the relative calm of the cubicle. (Even the one of our own making.)

Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.