What automated “out of the office” messages say about a nation

I’ve always marveled at the automated messages that Americans send out when they are away from work for whatever reason. The typical message will say something about the person in question being “out of the office” until so and so date, which could easily be interpreted as being away from the office for purposes of work– they might be at a conference, for instance.

It is very rare to find Americans sending out automated messages specifying that they are on vacation- something which Europeans readily do. In the Unites States there seems to be an inherent fear of showing that one is away from the call of duty for “frivolous” reasons. People might judge! Perhaps it will seem as though you don’t take your work seriously enough! Work, therefore I am, is the American mantra. In Europe, vacation and other forms of leave are seen as more natural parts of the work equation. Taking vacation says nothing about your dedication as a worker. And so, there is no reason to avoid telling your clients that you are enjoying some.

Here is an automated response that I received today from a Swedish man who is a Senior Engineer at a high profile firm. I guarantee you’ll never see an American send anything like this:

Dear email sender,

Thank you for your message.

I´m on parental leave. I will return to the office on August 16th, 2010.

Even if they did dare to trumpet to the world that they’re on leave, Americans would first need to acquire some parental leave. And by this lucky guy’s standards, at least six months of it.

- Astri