When Deb Johnston and Jo Hass bellied-up to the bar at Free State Brewing Co. on Wednesday afternoon, they looked around, confused.

Man, the place was packed, and it was early. But then again, they were there, too, enjoying the first day of their extended holiday time away from work.

“I guess there are a lot of people taking vacation,” Hass said.

From the looks of things, Hass, who lives in the Kansas City area, guessed right. Even though Lawrence’s 25,000-plus student population has all but vanished, downtown streets were packed from morning until evening this week, which means that offices and other workplaces have some empty desks this week.

But what do businesses say?

A quick call to the Lawrence Hallmark Inc. plant turned up little. Both the plant manager and the Human Resources manager – who could have commented – were on vacation.

Nathan Pendleton, 4, gets his hair cut by Pete Fitzgerald at Downtown Barbershop, 824 Mass. At left are Nathan's parents, Jason and Jodi Pendleton, Lawrence, and his grandfather, Jerry Pendleton, Bakersfield, Calif. Jason, a Lawrence Free State High School teacher and soccer coach, has the week off and is staying home with his son, who is off from preschool at Raintree Montessori School.

In the Kansas City Hallmark office, Linda Odell manned the phones when someone had a question. She said that even in her office the sound of other voices was rare.

“There’s somebody covering every area, but there are a lot of people who are taking this week off,” Odell said.

At the Lawrence plant, Odell said, life is pretty much normal. The holidays never stop, and employees there still need to churn out those festive cards.

In all, the local plant is at about 80 percent capacity, she said, printing cards for Mother’s Day, Easter and beyond.

“As many people as possible can be off,” Odell said. “But this is still our busy season.”

As offices slow down, so do businesses that routinely staff them with temporary help.

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“People just put their businesses on hold for a couple weeks,” said Barry Kingery, a sales representative for Express Personnel Services.

Kingery’s office helps find people for both office and labor employers, and he said that during the end of the year he sees big employers stop looking for temporary help.

Alecia Wicks, a manager at Excel Personnel Services, said that without much to do, offices rarely look elsewhere for help.

“That would be the reason we slow down,” Wicks said.

Slowing down is relative in the city’s offices, personnel director Lori Carnahan said. In her office, the week has been quiet, with few meetings and ample time for desk work.

But down the hall in Finance, director Ed Mullins was figuring out tax rate proposals, preparing for the new fiscal year, which starts in January.

“People are still paying their bills,” Mullins said.

Back at Free State, the only bill Johnston had to pay was her bar tab. For the week ahead, her plans included movie watching and dinner eating, and not much else.

Same for Hass, who plans to enjoy her time until work beckons.

“I’m going to watch movies, eat, relax,” Hass said, finishing a pint. “Relax, relax, relax.”