It’s about this time of year, Wimbledon being over, that Mrs Mole starts pining for France. We’re heading down to the Loire, which is lovely - although Mole Jr always complains that it is shut - but not until the end of summer. I used to holiday in France with my parents and my schoolmates always found it amusing that the whole nation went on holiday for the whole of August. Thinking about it today, I wonder if the French have a point. My inbox has already started filling up with out of office replies, and getting any business done before the end of August becomes increasingly difficult.
Clients are the worst. I sometimes have to refrain myself from shouting down the phone: “The clue’s in the job title, you are a print buyer so why don’t you buy some print?” Summer - coupled with what I believe is known as the ‘vacation ripple effect’ - just provides them with more excuses to prevaricate. A typical conversation will start something like this: “A colleague suggested we might go down a different route creatively on this project but he’s off for two weeks so we’ll have to wait till he’s back”. (Spoiler alert: when the colleague returns, he has forgotten what this ‘different creative route’ was.)
There are those who say that, as business slows down, with many meetings cancelled, the summer is a great time to reflect on the past year and to anticipate the year ahead. I can see the logic but, oddly, I find it easier to think about the big stuff when it’s busy - usually in autumn and winter. So why don’t we all just turn out of office on and promise to get back to each other in September?
The irony is that, for all that we mock the French for downing tools in August, they are more productive over the year than they are. We may like to see ourselves as akin to Americans when it comes to industriousness but we generate just under $49 an hour, compared to almost $63 for the French. So I say, vive les grandes vacances! If only…