Adios Siesta?

Chile's rugged, reformist Christian Democratic President Eduardo Frei is nothing if not ambitious. Not only has he promised to end Chile's spiraling inflation and redistribute the land--but he has challenged an even more sacred institution: the three-hour lunch hour, with its hallowed tradition of siesta.

Ever since the founding days of Bernardo O'Higgins, Chileans have paused in the day's occupation at noon to go home, dine on three courses and Riesling, and once upon a time, snooze it comfortably off before returning for another three hours of work in the late afternoon. In modern times, however, workers in downtown Santiago, Valparaiso and Concepcion, many of whom live six or seven miles from their jobs, have spent most of their lunchtime stalled on buses in traffic jams. So when Frei's government, seeking to boost efficiency and save electricity, last year asked the University of Chile to make a survey, results showed 94.6% favoring an uninterrupted working day, with only 4.5% opposed to the idea.

Buttressed by the poll, the government last week bravely decreed new 9 to 4:30 working hours, with only a 30-minute break for lunch, for government employees and large private corporations in the nation's ten biggest cities. Unfortunately, most downtown areas were woefully short of lunch counters or cafeterias to feed the hungry hordes, but most Chileans, for the present at least, seemed disposed to bring lunch in a paper bag, or wait in line. "It is rather expensive," moaned Jorge Soto, a government clerk who earns $53 a month. "I have to pay 600 for a one-course meal, and this will cost me 20% of my salary." Even less popular was another new rule. To make sure that Chileans really use their new free time to get home to dinner with the wife and children, all bars were ordered to close between 4 and 7 p.m.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.