U.S. Campus Life

Well-earned relief

Ever since I've decided that I would be graduating in the spring, it suddenly seems that I have tons of things to finish on deadline. For instance, I will be giving a required seminar next week, and I've had to prepare a three-page summary of my thesis in preparation for this talk. For sure, I'm looking forward to finishing my graduate work, but I know that I'll have to complete a lot of work before I accomplish this goal.

For this reason, I was especially eager to take a short vacation during our three-day Labor Day weekend. Although one can argue that students have an easier life than those with real jobs, I felt entitled to take a break.

At first, I contemplated taking a long bus or plane ride to unwind away from Boston, but I realized that this would be impossible. Our three summer subletters were moving out and two new roommates were moving in during Labor Day weekend, and I knew I would have to help around the apartment, since so many people were moving at once.

Therefore, I was forced to limit my vacation activities to the Boston area. On one day, I used a combination of subway and foot to explore some of the suburbs of Boston that I'd never really visited before. I just walked around the neighborhoods by myself, going in and out of interesting-looking shops. Instead of going to the restaurants along the way, I bought "luxury" ingredients at one of the shops and cooked rich foods at home: scallops, steak, salmon . . . I usually don't eat much meat or fish, but I think my tired body was crying out for protein.

On another day, a friend of mine from college picked me up and we drove to Wellesley College to relax on the beautiful campus. Recently, she had a very hard time looking for a job, but she had just started a new job and looked much calmer than she had in the past few months. We have taken turns supporting each other during difficult times and I felt comfortable spending this lazy day together. We ate lunch at a Thai restaurant, bought ice cream and gossiped about the Wellesley students walking around campus.

A couple days after this refreshing Labor Day weekend, I got another break for being a laborer: I earn a salary for working in my lab and writing for different publications, so I received the much discussed $300 (¥35,700) tax rebate check in the mail. People have been debating whether it was actually a good idea for President Bush to approve of this refund (many people I know have vowed to donate the money to the charities that have suffered the most because of this tax cut) but I was happy and a bit surprised to see the check arrive on time.

Bureaucratic institutions can often be inefficient and I know that many personal tax forms from my state had been lost or destroyed at the tax processing center. However, it seems that my forms were processed correctly. I actually got slightly less than $300 since I made a small mistake on my 2000 tax return and I didn't pay the correct amount of taxes that I owed. I was impressed that they caught a difference of only about $25 (¥2,975) and forced me to pay by deducting the amount from my rebate check.

The Statue of Liberty is featured prominently on the check, along with the slogan "Tax Relief for America's Workers." I found this strange patriotism quite funny. The check was practically begging us to thank President Bush and cheer for the U.S. of A, and this kind of patriotism is usually not embraced by the liberal intellectuals around me. My European friends found the check design especially hilarious.

I found the check amusing (and confusing) as well, but the bottom line is that for many hard workers, this check can be considered even more of a relief than a couple of days off for Labor Day. I have fantasized about using the check to pay for a trip to a spa for a day, but I ended up just depositing the check in my bank account. I suppose that as a student, I still feel guilty overindulging in benefits intended for "true" workers. Once I get a full-time job, I suppose I'll feel differently.

Shukan ST: Sept. 21, 2001

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