In the wake of the recent "no" vote on the EU constitution by the French and the Dutch, the question arises about European efficiency. You'd think Europe, because of its adoption to of the highly efficient metric system, would have a higher productivity than the United States. But it doesn't. No cigar. No cookie.
After much investigation, research, and employing the Olympic Committee to bribe every official in sight, I have been able to reach the following conclusions about why American productivity still trounces its European rivals:
* A4 paper and more
I don't get why Europeans need to use bigger paper. Standard letter-sized paper seems fine -- but this A4 paper that Europeans use is huge! All that paper being wasted surely decreases their efficiency.
European business cards are also much larger. What's the deal? That not only means more paper but it also means larger wallets. More waste.
* Work, Siestas, Vacations, and Sabbaticals
Americans just work a lot harder than Europeans. And unlike Europeans, we don't take as many vacations. We also don't take a siesta at 2:00 pm every day. Nope -- we work all the time (except when we are watching reality TV). When is the last time you saw a Frenchman check his voice mail while on vacation in Nice? Or an Italian who passes on wine during dinner because she has to be at work early the next day?
* Learning Different Spoken Languages
Americans generally know only one spoken language -- English. All the energy that normally goes into learning other spoken languages can be focused on learning other useful things like computer languages or the language of Wall Street.
If you assume a brain can only hold a finite amount of memory before it runs out of storage, learning fewer spoken languages can be a huge advantage (especially if everyone else learns English).
I know what you are thinking -- spoken like a true American.
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Update: lest anyone think I'm serious … this was filed in the "humor" section …
