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Poll: Do you observe your local holidays?
Thread poster: ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
ProZ.com Staff
SITE STAFF
Jul 4, 2020

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you observe your local holidays?".

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neilmac
neilmac
Spain
Local time: 06:38
Spanish to English
+ ...
Other Jul 4, 2020

"I "observe" them from a safe distance, especially if there are fireworks. "Or "observe" that the supermarket is shut when I get there, not having realised it was a local holiday, which happened a couple of weeks ago, it was a Wednesday… :/

Philippe Etienne
Hiba Rashed
Kaisa I
Mario Freitas
Gibril Koroma
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
 
Jean Dimitriadis
Jean Dimitriadis  Identity Verified
English to French
+ ...
Pretty disconnected Jul 4, 2020

I was already pretty disconnected from local holidays (calling them "bank holidays" always cracks me up) in my previous job, but now the process is complete.

I just observe my own calendar, which rarely coincides with the official one, and only to the extent I want to spend the day(s) with more observing friends and loved ones (because we don't live in a vacuum).

Plus, "la musique qui marche au pas, cela ne me regarde pas" ("music parading on the street, I don't care ab
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I was already pretty disconnected from local holidays (calling them "bank holidays" always cracks me up) in my previous job, but now the process is complete.

I just observe my own calendar, which rarely coincides with the official one, and only to the extent I want to spend the day(s) with more observing friends and loved ones (because we don't live in a vacuum).

Plus, "la musique qui marche au pas, cela ne me regarde pas" ("music parading on the street, I don't care about this beat"), as Georges Brassens sings...

[Edited: thank you, Adrien, nice catch!]

[Edited at 2020-07-04 13:35 GMT]
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Paul Lambert
neilmac
Platary (X)
Philippe Etienne
Hiba Rashed
Kaisa I
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Paul Lambert
Paul Lambert  Identity Verified
Sweden
Local time: 06:38
Member (2006)
Swedish to English
+ ...
There is no "local" in this business Jul 4, 2020

Given that my clients are based all around the world, if there is, for instance, a Swedish holiday and I don't hear from any of my Swedish clients, I will still get requests from clients in other countries, Of course, other countries have local holidays as well, at which times I will not hear from those particular ones, but then clients in yet other countries will be working and I need to watch my email inbox.

Big holidays that are internationally observed can usually be taken off,
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Given that my clients are based all around the world, if there is, for instance, a Swedish holiday and I don't hear from any of my Swedish clients, I will still get requests from clients in other countries, Of course, other countries have local holidays as well, at which times I will not hear from those particular ones, but then clients in yet other countries will be working and I need to watch my email inbox.

Big holidays that are internationally observed can usually be taken off, like Christmas, New Year's Day, Easter etc, but then again I did on one occasion work an Christmas Day for a client from Turkey, where I suppose Christmas is not observed.

Consider too that so-called "holidays" are a translator's opportunity to catch up on some work without being disturbed. Furthermore, a translator prepared to work on holidays or weekends might have a slight competitive advantage, as many other freelancers will not be available.

[Edited at 2020-07-04 09:28 GMT]
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Elke Fehling
Beatriz Ramírez de Haro
 
Lincoln Hui
Lincoln Hui  Identity Verified
Hong Kong
Local time: 13:38
Member
Chinese to English
+ ...
All of them Jul 4, 2020

I observe all my local holidays, and all the local holidays of all my clients around the globe.

 
Platary (X)
Platary (X)
Local time: 06:38
German to French
+ ...
Brassens... Jul 4, 2020

Jean Dimitriadis wrote:

Plus, "la musique qui marche pas, cela ne me regarde pas" ("music parading on the street, I don't care about this beat"), as Georges Brassens sings...



Salut Jean,

Sorry if "la musique marche pas", but it's about "la musique qui marche AU pas..."

Happy holidays!


Jean Dimitriadis
neilmac
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
 
Samuel Murray
Samuel Murray  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 06:38
Member (2006)
English to Afrikaans
+ ...
Can't really ignore them Jul 4, 2020

ProZ.com Staff wrote:
Do you observe your local holidays?

My current country of residence is a secular country, so naturally Good Friday, Easter Sunday, Easter Monday, Ascension Day, Pentecost Day, Whit Monday, Christmas Day and St. Stephen's Day are all public holidays (along with New Year's day, Liberation Day and the King's birthday). These are days when relatives come for long visits, so you can't really ignore them. These are days when no work shall be done (or be able to get done).

Lincoln Hui wrote:
I observe ... all the local holidays of all my clients around the globe.

Good point. That said, a lot of my agency clients do work right through their own local holidays.

neilmac wrote:
Or "observe" that the supermarket is shut when I get there...

Every.single.time.

[Edited at 2020-07-04 11:35 GMT]


 
Tom in London
Tom in London
United Kingdom
Local time: 05:38
Member (2008)
Italian to English
Yes Jul 4, 2020

ProZ.com Staff wrote:

This forum topic is for the discussion of the poll question "Do you observe your local holidays?".

View the poll results »



No- I observe Italian holidays because most of my clients are in Italy.

[Edited at 2020-07-04 12:18 GMT]


Christopher Schröder
 
Christine Andersen
Christine Andersen  Identity Verified
Denmark
Local time: 06:38
Member (2003)
Danish to English
+ ...
Yes Jul 4, 2020

Generally, I observe local holidays, but I can be flexible.

Many years ago I worked though a Danish public holiday, in spite of visitors and a family crisis looming up, because a client talked me into taking over an urgent job that another translator had unexpectedly dropped... Wisely as it turned out.
In spite of having a very respectable looking website, claiming to be an approved IoL training centre and sounding very professional and helpful with special terminology, the cl
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Generally, I observe local holidays, but I can be flexible.

Many years ago I worked though a Danish public holiday, in spite of visitors and a family crisis looming up, because a client talked me into taking over an urgent job that another translator had unexpectedly dropped... Wisely as it turned out.
In spite of having a very respectable looking website, claiming to be an approved IoL training centre and sounding very professional and helpful with special terminology, the client was a scam artist who nearly got away with not paying me! He owed me about GBP 500, which was finally paid into my account some months later.

Since then I have had a dislike of working over holidays, especially after I have done a whole month's work during the first three weeks of December.

If I am not abroad or entertaining family from abroad, because local holidays are also international holidays, I join in what is going on in the town and support local business, which is largely tourism.
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Mario Freitas
Mario Freitas  Identity Verified
Brazil
Local time: 02:38
Member (2014)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
No Jul 4, 2020

Local holidays? If the question were about universal holidays, like Christmas and Easter, I might have considered a "sometimes" as an answer. But local holidays of course do not apply when 85% of my clients are in other countries. I will obviously not refuse a job received in a holiday (or the day before) when it's not a holiday in the client's country, and I don't think any of us would.

[Edited at 2020-07-04 13:09 GMT]


Philip Lees
 
Kaisa I
Kaisa I  Identity Verified
Canada
Local time: 01:38
English to Finnish
+ ...
Only sometimes Jul 4, 2020

neilmac wrote:

"I "observe" them from a safe distance, especially if there are fireworks.


I hate fireworks with a passion (and I don't even have a dog). Why do people pay money to literally shoot debris in the air? Canada Day was Wednesday, and so far there have been fireworks every night from Tuesday to Friday (quite possibly tonight as well). I guess people are bored out of their minds.

To answer the poll, it's almost impossible to plan for a single day's holiday in the middle of the week, when there are deadlines to meet. Longer ones, as in long weekends, are easier to plan around ahead of time. My birthday and a friend's birthday fall on one, and we usually go to their cottage (with slow internet) because it's nice to do something other than work, on the one day of the year that's all yours!


 
Thayenga
Thayenga  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 06:38
Member (2009)
English to German
+ ...
No Jul 4, 2020

Most of them fall on weekends anyway, e. g. our next holiday October 3 is a Saturday, so that there is not really any difference other than that I won't be able to do the usual weekend shopping that particular Saturday.

[Edited at 2020-07-04 14:58 GMT]


 
Steven Capsuto
Steven Capsuto  Identity Verified
United States
Local time: 01:38
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
+ ...
"Universal"? Jul 4, 2020

Mario Freitas wrote:

If the question were about universal holidays, like Christmas and Easter


I assure you, even Christmas and Easter are not universal.


 
Marina Steinbach
Marina Steinbach
United States
Local time: 01:38
Member (2011)
English to German
Happy 4th of July Jul 4, 2020

Happy Independence Day To All Who Served

Aline Amorim
 
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida
Maria Teresa Borges de Almeida  Identity Verified
Portugal
Local time: 05:38
Member (2007)
English to Portuguese
+ ...
It depends on my workload Jul 4, 2020

Sometimes I do observe local holidays, others I don’t: it's my choice. There are two exceptions: Christmas (famille oblige) and the 1st May.

 
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Poll: Do you observe your local holidays?






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