[spiderfarmer]

I never took the day off on my birthday, but a lot of people do. So it might also make sense to ask why these surgeons are operating on their birthdays. Did they take the day off and went back to perform surgery on a critical patient? Are they overworked? Etc.

[rightbyte]

I mean surgeries on Christmas probably are way more fatal too since they are the ones that can't wait.

You would excepct that it is the day after your birthday the surgeon is worse (risk for hangover or less sleep).

[mikestew]

It’s coming up on a year since I got wheeled into the operating room as my Christmas present for 2019. I’m obviously still here to tell the tale, but the thought did cross my mind: “how much of a hurry are you to get home, Dr. Takiyama?” But according to TFA, a Christmas Day surgery was about equal in risk to one on the surgeon’s birthday. Which means my worries weren’t entirely unfounded.

[englishrookie]

Is that a thing in the US, taking a day off on your birthday? To the best of my knowledge, nobody does that in Europe - certainly not in the Netherlands.

[kjakm]

It's probably just a personal thing. I'm in Europe and always take my birthday off - I don't understand why anybody would want to work on their birthday. Even if I don't have plans to celebrate until the weekend the idea of working on my birthday is very depressing (in fact in rarely celebrate my birthday and if I do it's something small like dinner with a couple of friends). To be honest I thought it would be more prevalent in Europe given we seem to get more time off and taking time off is less 'frowned upon' (at least this is my experience compared with my US based colleagues).

[brmgb]

> I don't understand why anybody would want to work on their birthday.

I personally was under the impression that once you left childhood and the impatience of getting presents your birthday pretty much became just a day as usual. That also seems to be how my college treats it but it might be cultural. Europe is not a homogeneous place.

[Reason077]

> "I don't understand why anybody would want to work on their birthday."

Well, if you're lucky, your co-workers will chip in and buy a cake!

[onehp]

In all the work environments I've been in (UK) the culture is the opposite, as the birthday person you are expected to bring in cake.

[danpalmer]

And I've had exactly the opposite experience in the UK. I think this depends entirely on the workplace.

[oblio]

Yeah. I've worked in multiple places in Europe and people except you to bring a cake or something.

They might pitch in and buy you a small present, in return.

But they definitely expect you to bring a cake or at least some sweets.

[Reason077]

In that case, I'd be trying to keep my birthday a secret!

[inglor_cz]

"I wasn't born. I just ... slowly coalesced over a year or so, just like celestial bodies do."

[pedro596]

I'm from Europe and in my past job my team had the tradition of having cake bought or baked by the guy celebrating his birthday.

[function_seven]

As far as I know it's not a thing here, either. I've known one or two that do, but in my experience the vast majority of people will celebrate their birthday on the nearest weekend, if they do so at all.

[fogihujy]

It does happen in Europe too; It's more of a personal preference than an actual thing, though.

[petercooper]

It's debatable whether the UK is "in Europe" but all my employees take their birthdays off, as does my wife. It seems to be hugely common here. I don't do it though because I just don't see the point.

[heyoo]

Dane here. Also never heard of this.

People often bring cake to work on birthdays, though.

[mschuster91]

Depends on where in Europe you are and how much the people you know value getting wasted or stoned. Personally, I prefer taking off at birthday + 1 day after.

[ariejan]

Well, I do. So there's at least one of us.

Then again, I grew up having my birthday in the "herfstvakantie" and the habit kind of stuck :-)

[collyw]

Some people do. I wouldn't say its the norm, but maybe one in five people do it in my anecdotal experience.

[markus92]

Dutchie here, most of my colleagues do.

[jahller]

German here: I always try to take a day off. Not as a rule in general, just a personal preference.

[watwut]

Never seen anyone to take a day off on birthday. Living in Europe too.