You are ruining for the rest of us

Where do I start? The American work ethic is hugely overrated. When I go on vacation I make sure that everybody knows I won't be available, because that is what vacations are for. If I want to work like a dog and never see the light of day, then I don't go on vacation.
People think that they are going to get promoted or appreciated if they work their asses off without rest. They are wrong. Nobody gives a shit, so you might as well take your paid vacation according to company policy. They are not going to give you a medal for your heroic sacrifice. They are going to think: there goes that workaholic putz that I feel like firing anyway (and I so hope you do indeed get fired). So take your goddamned vacation because it is actually better for your sanity and that of your company. And please, disconnect yourself for a week. The world will either survive or implode without you. You are not that freaking important.
I think that insignificant people like to feel bigger by being workaholics. That way they can pretend they are not a puny cipher in the bigger scheme of things. I call it "the conference room table syndrome". Put a group in front of it and all of a sudden they feel like General Mccarthur planning D-Day. It's the same with vacation. People like to look like FBI agents on a matter of national security. Do chill out, people. RELAX.