Is nothing sacred? Even though we live in a place famous for its workaholic habits and stressful schedules, there has always been the comforting thought that in other, warmer countries people do things differently. In these Lotus-lands of the imagination, or so we believed, workers hardly merit the name: They start late, finish early, strike often, snooze through siestas, take bloated vacations and linger over long, well-lubricated lunches.
Well, no more. Not, at least, in Mexico, that quintessential Lotus-land, and certainly not with regard to lunches. In a move scheduled to take effect this week, the Mexican government has officially abolished the country's traditional three-hour lunch, removing at a stroke a central pillar of the time-honored culture of "al ratito" (later) and "manana" (tomorrow).
In slashing its citizens' midday break by two-thirds, Mexico may be undercutting its easy-going, tourist-pleasing image, but it is really only facing the inevitable. As a modern trading nation, it has little choice but to fall in with the rest of the industrialized world, a fast-paced, 24-hour universe where time is money and there is only one watchword: now. The reformers argue that the tighter schedule will actually free up time for workers, since the long afternoon break meant that the Mexican workday typically ran until 10 or 11 at night. Now, they say, employees will work harder for fewer hours, with evenings off to devote to their neglected private lives. Observers in Japan may be justified in feeling skeptical. Experience here warns that employees used to staying late at the office could find the habit hard to break, under pressure from bosses, clients and that sleepless global clock, and end up working more hours -- fueled only by a couple of takeout tacos. How do you say "karoshi" in Spanish?