We're not saying The Donald is a hypocrite, but...

It’s come as no surprise to us that the Five Day Weekend concept has its share of critics. But we were a bit surprised today to see that Donald Trump has come out swinging against us.

Sure, he’s an icon of hard work and the relentless drive for financial success. But you would also think he’d understand the economic boost that a longer weekend would mean for many American industries.

If we had a Five Day Weekend — or even if Americans just used the meager vacation time we’re given — just think would that would do for business at Trump Taj Mahal, Trump Plaza, Trump Marina, Trump International Golf Links or the bevy of Trump International Hotel and Tower buildings going up around the world.

In his critique of the Five Day Weekend, Trump says:

“I rarely take vacations and I think that’s one of the reasons behind my organization’s success. You’ve got to put in the time to reap the rewards.”

First off, that’s big talk from a man who owns a vacation-planning Web site.

Second, if Trump is worth $2.9 billion and still hasn’t reached a level of success that justifies a vacation, when exactly should the rest of us plan to “reap the rewards” of our work? Is $3 billion the magic number?

We’re all about hard work and celebrating American success stories, but you’ll forgive those of us in Asheville if we look to a different tycoon for inspiration.

Thursday Thirteen, Five Day Weekend style

Thirteen things you didn't know about the Friends of the Five Day Weekend:

1. We are not alone.

2. Actually, there are more than 500 of us just on MySpace.

3. And thousands have signed the petition

4. Our plan might save lives.

5. We're not the first to propose this.

6. We really enjoyed this guy's take on overwork.

7. Our site, Fivedayweekend.org, is currently ranked 168,348th on Technorati.

8. We won't be happy until we're 145,208th.

9. Our bus, the Work Less Express, literally stopped working after the Atlanta rally. We were so proud.

10. But now it's back, and it's barreling toward Greensboro, N.C.

11. As much as we've researched the history of time off, we still learned a lot from this great article.

12. We're honored to be endorsed by SpiderElvis.

13. We are chagrined to find ourselves working on a Thursday, two days into the weekend. But that's how much we care.

The Five Day Weekend: America's salvation? Or harbinger of doom?

When we took the Work Less Express on the road a mere week and a half ago, our No. 1 goal was to start a discussion about how our nation works — and doesn't work.

Well, we've definitely sparked some conversations, with people airing strong opinions on both sides. We thought we'd share a few of the e-mails and online comments we've received, both positive and negative.

LOVING THE FIVE DAY WEEKEND:

"A friend of mine mentioned your cause to me and I was sold immediately. I am sorry I missed you guys yesterday when you were in Atlanta. I would have been there. If there is anything I can do, please let me know." — Mark A.

"Awesome. I've already started the movement here in KC. I'll gladly promote it more." — Darren P.

"I am a high school student and I have taken interest in your movement. However, many of my friends would like to know if the five-day-weekend will apply to school too; if so, I think that I could muster up a whole lot of support for you movement. I hope this goes somewhere, I think it would be really cool to have a five day weekend. Thank you very much." — Eli W.

"Please give me some serious feedback on this plan as I would be happy to look at instituting it with my company." — Kerry L.

"Hats off to your organization. Two-day work week is great. We can use the time to relax and be revived and stop being so grouchy. We Americans are some of the most irritable people in the world. I think it is because we are over worked." — Loraine S. (One of the many, many excellent comments posted on the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's story about our rally.)

"I happen to remember when everything close at 12:00 on Wednesday and stores were open till 12:00 on Saturday's and everything was closed on Sunday. Now it seems like the norm is to be open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. Something needs to be done now and maybe the 5 day week-end is the best thing." — Chuck

NOT SO MUCH LOVING THE FIVE DAY WEEKEND:

"Please get realistic or give up this lost cause. Your unrealistic plan causes other plans to loose credibility. If you think it is so great in France, MOVE THERE! Their economy is in the toilet and their unemployment rate is through the roof." — David M.

"Most Americans already are a bunch of spoiled, self serving, lazy, over-weight, over paid, slobs now. This idiotic idea will surely put us under, economically and health-wise. ... If this flies are you going to take responsibility for the futher collapse of America's work ethics? If everyone would work 6 days a week for one year America's debt would be paid in full." — Kelly

"Your idea has such a socialist undertone I wonder if you have a liberal hidden agenda since you seem to place the onus on corporations for “making people work so hard”. Well the facts are simple: Nobody is forcing anyone to work beyond what is required of them." — Rick A.

"Y'all are a bunch of ass clowns." — Ryan N.



So ... what do you think?

High-energy Asheville rally kickstarts the 5 Day Weekend campaign.

First off, big thanks to all the Friends of the 5 Day Weekend (and receptive passers-by) who came out to our hometown kickoff rally Tuesday in downtown Asheville. A pretty huge crowd gathered for the debut of our not-so-subtle tour bus, the Work Less Express.

Campaign Director Roy McCrerey (who will soon be taking over blogging responsibilities here), rallied the troops with by reminding everybody how incredibly overworked Americans are and how the 5 Day Weekend movement can help.

But it wasn't all Five Day rhetoric. We'd just be preaching to the choir in Asheville, where everybody seems to agree that there's a lot more to life than just working yourself to death.

So we brought out some cloggers, one of Asheville's many great bluegrass bands, and local practitioners of the Brazilian dance-fighting art capoeira. We just wanted to show off a small sample of the new skills and activities you could pick up if you could just get a little (or a lot) more time off.

Well, here, check out the slideshow yourself:



Oh, and our full, content-packed 5 Day Weekend web site is live now, in case you haven't noticed. So head on over to fivedayweekend.org and check it out.