A prophetic column for Business First from 2004

Louisville, Ky. (May 20, 2004) -- I would have to say that the “Gone Tanning” sign that hung from a closed shoe store in Florence, Italy comes closest to summing up the work ethic of many countries in Europe.
That laidback lifestyle added a mellow feel to my April vacation to Europe.
But living in that part of the world, or trying to run an errand in a just a few minutes, requires patience that I don’t think many Americans possess.
This matter of work ethics abroad was recently in the news as the French government is proposing an extention of the 35-hour work week in an effort to deal with the country's deficit.
I doubt this extension, even if implemented, will be successful because the French seem to value their lifestyle as much as the rest of us. Imagine how a similiar suggestion to increase the American work week to 48 hours would fare.
“That’s two whole days out of my week!” math savvy Americans would cry.
I like the idea that was recently in the news; Sweden is beginning a study to see if a 30 hour work week at a 40-hour-salary will result in healthier, more productive employees. I hereby formerly volunteer for that study. Anything for science.
Most days while I was abroad, the loafing began early and went late into the night. Most businesses like restaurants or clothing shops that relied on customers
would not open in France until around 10 a.m.
In Italy, it was closer to 11 a.m. And then some places close in the afternoon and open back up for dinner.
The major exception in this tale of Western European loafing was Germany. Talk about some people who can put the pedal to the metal. All Europeans, as far as I could tell, drive like a complete banshees. It’s the only thing they do at high speeds.
But the Germans take it to the next level in that they even walk fast. I’m talking brisk jog pace, here.
And, as history tells us, they are an industrious people. A Canadian told me on the train from Paris to Berlin that of all the people in all his classes during his semester abroad, Germans were the hardest workers.
“And all the French kids make fun of them for it,” he
said.
Oh, have we learned nothing from the 20th Century?
But back to the food.
My favorite difference was the way the dinner bill arrived.
Across Europe, as far as I could tell, the bill would not arrive in less than 30 minutes unless you asked for it. The rule seemed to be that the table was yours
for as long as you wanted.
I adjusted and grew to like the difference. I even gave a weak effort to slow down the pace of those around me shortly after I returned. I might as well have tried to make the Ohio River flow north.
I was home, I realized, and things as deeply entrenched in a society as the pace of life aren't easily changed.
And, in turn, expecting things to be exactly the same when on a vacation to a foreign country is a strange expectation that may people, myself included, seem to
have. (Did you read the plane ticket? It didn’t say
Pittsburgh, did it?)
So yes, things are different in other countries, especially the work ethic.
In fact, a cab driver in Paris explained this all to me in broken English as we weaved through the city streets, monuments rushing by, avoiding accident after
accident.
“If you want to do something in America, you can do it very quickly. There is no waiting. But life is not sweet. In Paris, if you want to do something, it takes a long time. But life is sweet.”