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Swedish Council Member Proposes Paid Breaks For Sex

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

A city council member of the Swedish town of Overtornea on the Arctic Circle made a proposal this week, which is kind of inadvertently hilarious way to refer to it as you will shortly hear, that he said could improve the health and morale of civil servants. He said, why not let them have sex on their lunch break? City council member Per-Erik Muskos pointed out that going to the gym or getting a massage is encouraged and permitted in addition to, you know, hitting the lunchtime smorgasbord or something.

Overtornea has a population of only 4,500, so it seems like there's room to expand. And besides, it's on the Arctic Circle. People will do just about anything to stay warm. Although, the council member's proposal would require them to remove at least a little of their thermal underwear. Council member Muskos told the AFP news agency that executives would just have to trust that their employees were going home to have relations and not deceiving them by reading a book or going for a walk. But what if you have lunch at your desk?

(SOUNDBITE OF ALAN HAWKSHAW'S "GIRL IN A SPORTS CAR") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

Scott Simon is one of America's most admired writers and broadcasters. He is the host of Weekend Edition Saturday and is one of the hosts of NPR's morning news podcast Up First. He has reported from all fifty states, five continents, and ten wars, from El Salvador to Sarajevo to Afghanistan and Iraq. His books have chronicled character and characters, in war and peace, sports and art, tragedy and comedy.