The Global Holiday Exchange

I have been asked by a few Americans what I did for Labor Day this year. The answer is quite simple: I labored.

Things are kind of odd working on an international project. Usually the Irish Holiday calendar takes precedence, but due the vast amount of British on the project, a practice has been put in play that we now refer to as the Global Holiday Exchange. This is how it works:

Typically each country has a public holiday calendar that has anywhere from 7-10 public holidays. When it gets close to an Irish or British holiday, everybody starts to plan their schedules to see which one they'd rather take. The Brits and the Irish will take their own holidays. But, if you're not on either of those holiday calendars, you trade one of your home holidays for a British or Irish holiday. For instance, I traded my Memorial Day holiday this year for what the Irish call their June Bank Holiday.

When the August bank holiday was coming up, I decided to take it instead of Labor Day so I could have an extra day off when my family was here. Or did I trade that one for 4th of July? Perhaps, I should start tracking the holidays that I'm trading . . .

By the way, Happy Belated Labor Day to those back in the States!