5:2 - Furlough

 When & Where:  When I am driving, I always listen to NPR on the radio, and this is the main way that I stay on top of current events in the world.  Not surprisingly, most of what has been dominating the airwaves in recent days has been related to the government shutdown.  It seems that in each conversation, there is mention of furloughed workers and government employees on furlough. 

Level of Familiarity: I have heard this word used before and it seems to usually be used in relationship to U.S. military.  I have a sense that it refers to workers who are not being paid for service, just based on context clues.  However, I don't feel confident in my understanding.

What it Means: An article in TIME entitled, "8 Essential Shutdown Words You Need to Know" defines furlough as a verb meaning to force an employee not to come to work and often dock his or her pay accordingly.  The reason I chose to focus on this definition from the article is because I wanted a definition closely related to the context in which it was being used (i.e., the government shutdown) rather than a general definition.  I felt that Googling it would give me more precise and relevant information than the dictionary would.  

Reflective Commentary:  What I had assumed furlough meant wasn't so much incorrect as it was incomplete, though I must admit that I thought furloughed workers were expected to report to work.  Instead, furloughed workers are basically laid off for a while.  The article estimates that over 800,000 workers have been furloughed as a result of this shutdown, but as I understand it the congress people who caused it are still getting paid, which serves to further enrage me.  Given this time of unrest and the frequency of the discussion of the shutdown in the media, I see this as a very useful term to understand.  Without knowing this word, we really can't get a very accurate sense of the huge impact this shutdown is having on families, on individuals, and on the economy.