Most employers would look askance on a new employee who takes a week-long vacation after being on the job just over a month.

So Governor Perdue is trying the good nature of North Carolina taxpayers this week.

She has good arguments: She has been working hard. She’s off to a good start, most observers agree. The legislature is just getting organized for a long session. She’ll be working while she’s gone. And she reportedly has had a lingering case of bronchitis for weeks.

Still. This is not a good idea, Gov.

A lot of people wish they could take a vacation somewhere warm in February. A lot of people wish they could take a vacation – period. A lot of people wish they had a job – vacation or not.

Now, this little bump in her honeymoon will not be fatal. But it’s the kind of little thing people notice. Especially when they’re still sizing her up as Governor.

About the maddest I ever saw Governor Hunt was early in his first term when he was photographed playing tennis at a governors’ association meeting at some resort. He thought North Carolinians would think he was slacking off. But I reassured him that it was a weekend, and by then he had richly earned his reputation as a workaholic.

The picture did no lasting damage.

But Governor Perdue and her team need to be just as sensitive. My advice would have been to make it a long weekend – and announce it ahead of time.

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