Tim,

Yes — Ferragosto (Italy’s summer holiday season) is definitely NOT about efficiency. Resorts get inundated, the coast fills up to the point that you cannot move without bumping into someone, and yet somehow everyone there is fine with it.

From an American perspective, it seems crazy, but it’s how their system works. For better or worse, many figure “there’s always time for work later.” It seems entirely foreign to us (which it is), but the fact remains that the world keeps on turning and they’re the ones on vacation while we’re sitting at our desk waiting for them to get back to us.

Politics and social structure aside, I think I’d rather be on the crowded beach than an open office :)

Thanks for commenting,

Dave