Medieval peasants got more vacation time than modern workers (2013)

Re:Medieval peasants got more vacation time than modern work... by qwr23qwer on Friday March 23, 2018 @08:40AM (#16657380)

"Leisure" might not mean exactly what we think it means today.

I think it'll be obvious to anyone who's worked in a manual labour job e.g. construction, farming, etc, even with today's tools, you can't physically do these at anything but a "leisurely pace" and a limited amount of hours a day, with breaks for rest, food etc.

Specially in warmer climates. Claiming that this means that life was easy is a little bit dishonest here.

There's a limit to what's humanly possible, digging ditches with shovels for 8 hours a day is not equal to sitting in an office for same 8 hours. No matter how many breaks you have, and at how "leisurely pace" you're digging.

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Re:Medieval peasants got more vacation time than modern work... by emodendroket on Friday March 23, 2018 @08:41AM (#16657394)

Yeah, sure, but how many construction workers work only 150 days a year and have mid-day naps?

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Re:Medieval peasants got more vacation time than modern work... by qwr23qwer on Friday March 23, 2018 @08:47AM (#16657464)

Work on oil rigs, fishing (Deadliest Catch guys?), underwater welding etc. are usually done for a couple months a year and taking the rest off, (at least from anecdotal data from folks I know).

Construction work can be similar in places where harsh winters make it impossible to build anything during winter (frozen ground and all that).

Farming can be similar.

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Re:Medieval peasants got more vacation time than modern work... by emodendroket on Friday March 23, 2018 @09:59AM (#16658182)

Well, there is some seasonal work, but it's not the norm and it's probably difficult for most people to live working only half the year.

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Re:Medieval peasants got more vacation time than modern work... by dogma1138 on Friday March 23, 2018 @09:26AM (#16657812)

Seasonal workers tend to migrate where the work is so most of them do work year round just not in the same place or even field.

You also need to differentiate between just normal rig workers and deck hands and highly skilled professionals e.g. underwater welders.

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Re:Medieval peasants got more vacation time than modern work... by emodendroket on Friday March 23, 2018 @09:05AM (#16657606)

I work in Boston and I see people working in the winter in buildings. What region is this?

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Re:Medieval peasants got more vacation time than modern work... by ghaff on Friday March 23, 2018 @09:15AM (#16657708)

Depends on the type of construction specialty. I have a neighbor who is in heavy construction (i.e. drives backhoes, etc.) and he's typically off for the winter--though he sometimes does various other things.

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