AIBU to think that the shops should stay closed on Boxing Day and Christmas Day...

[PeaceofCakeAndGoodWineToAllMN]

...so that the staff can have 2 days off? I don't work in retail, my sister and friends do. Surely we can manage for 2 days without shopping so that they can have a rest? I know that this is part of their job, seems rather scrooge like to me though.

You do sound bitter Herbie to me, at least.

I like my job, i like to work, if i didn't work i would end up ill.
I do what i have to do, and make the best of it.
I accept things are different now, i don't like it, as i can remember better times, but hey ho, on we go!

OTTMummA, there are plenty of minimum wage jobs which don't involve such a variety of hours as retail work. That's one of the benefits of being in a low income job, right? You're not tied to a salary that wouldn't be met elsewhere.

And rather than being doom and gloom about retail, I actually quite enjoyed the few months I spent working in a shop (women's clothes store in a shopping centre) because it often meant my weekend days fell on a weekday. I wouldn't be able to fit it around DH's work and our childcare arrangements just now, but it was so much more peaceful going to e.g. being able to get to a bank on a Tuesday morning or doing a weekly food shop on a Wednesday afternoon rather than fighting with masses of people at 11am on a Saturday.

Retail isn't all bad, you know!

I'm not saying the clothing shop job was the best I ever had, but like with all jobs, there are advantages and disadvantages... let's not pretend otherwise

Random aside... in terms of minimum wage jobs, the one I enjoyed most was helping out in my local cafe for a few months after DS1 (found it impossible to get back to normal office work as that whole "haven't worked for a couple of years" thing kicked in, but we needed some form of cash to help DH's wages then). Often got free food at the end of the day - not a bad perk at all!

But theres quite a few jobs that aren't essential - so should everyone be allowed to have that day off?
I worked in a contract phone billing department - answering queries about bills. Had to work Christmas day
Bar staff/waitress - had to work Christmas day. Now I work for the ambulance service. In fact since i was 16 (so 11 years) I have only had 2 Christmas days off to be with my family
Nobody needs to ring up about a phone bill or eat out or go for a drink - why not shut the lot?

I don't think comparing hospital staff or armed forces with retail workers is a valid argument. We need hospitals to be open. I certainly don't need to go to Next (and won't be). My DH worked in retail until he became a SAHD and Christmas was awful. He usually just got one day off, after working like a dog for weeks before hand. On Christmas Eve the shop he worked in closed early - so they could put out the sale stuff. And the days of getting overtime for working on any sort of BH are long gone!

Agree about Boxing Day, no need for shops to be open. Garages - probably yes, as there are a lot of people travelling. Restaurants - a nice to have.

I don't agree about Sunday closing; I used to work out of the country Mon-Fri and would find things extremely difficult if I didn't have Sunday as well as Saturday to get stuff done. I agree about being able to have normal opening hours on a Sunday as well, seems like it just makes arranging the shifts more complicated and is v annoying for shoppers too.

Sorry, but as a child of the 70's/80's whilst shops were shut on a sunday I don't remember them closing at 5pm. In fact my grandfather used to come and babysit me on a friday evening (after he had got home from work) so that my mum and dad could borrow his car to do the supermarket shop.

I can remember this happening from before my little sister was born - and she's twenty bloody eight.

So this argument that shops not opening on a sunday is impossible for the 'modern family unit' to cope with - in these days of the internet - is just bollocks. As are the arguments re SAHM's/The Patriarchy etc...

I am working on Boxing Day, well I am on the rota.

mmmmmm I think I will have a sickness bug though,......... TOUGH!!

Yes, tribpot.. that's what I meant really. It's not impossible to get stuff done if everything is closed on Sundays.. it just makes life much more difficult than it needs to be. Wasn't a problem when I was home or part time, but now that I'm full time (like DH), I've found that we just need to change banks to be able to do the things I need to do easily.

Internet shopping is a godsend, I'll give you that. the only problems come when DH is on a new site (works on shop re-fits - so nowhere to store things securely and changes sites almost weekly) and when I'm not sure which office i'll be working in (i split days between two offices, my local office but often have meetings at head office). Luckily, we have a neighbour that works from home, so not a huge problem (but it would be a faff if she wasn't around for that, I'll admit).

Also, internet banking can't solve all issues - there's a thread on here from a poster who's just tried to pay in coins into an account via the deposit box thing and she's had a letter from her bank asking her to not do it again (only notes allowed). Which is fine if, as I said, you can get to a bank Mon-Fri between 9.15am and 5pm easily... which I can't. And I haven't been able to do for about a year. What a faff!

iN THE 80'S SHOPS USED TO HAVE ONE LATE NIGHT OPENING A WEEK

fRIDAY.

fifthteenfiftyfive, i do like my job, thankyou, i like working with customers, and the quick pace, however just because i do not like one aspect of my job doesn't mean i would stop doing it.

I have worked as a cleaner, in an office, at a help desk, etc.

But i seem to be best for retail, especially customer services.
So, i will probably always work in retail.
I am no longer on the bottom rung, and am mid management, but can still remember how horrible it was and is still for GA's, i sympathise with them a lot.

Retail is hard, and there are not many perks, but one of them used to be having BH's, sundays and a few days around Christmas off.
Im sure if anyone on here had on of their job perks taken away as standard they would be pretty upset aswell.

I used to work shift work over Xmas, not retail. I loved it. After my mum died I loathed Xmas and it was a great excuse to opt out of it all and being constantly reminded how everyone else was having a happy family time.

alistron, without wanting to reveal where I'm from, I grew up in a town where the post office closed on Wednesdays, the library had a half day on Tuesdays/Thursdays, and the baker was empty of bread and cakes by 3.30pm (as we walked home from school).

Not a single one of those things has changed since I moved away 20-odd years ago.

The only thing that has changed in my hometown is the massive 24hr Tesco on the edge... which my mum was so chuffed to get it was quite odd to see! I don't want to defend Tesco because there's certainly bad elements to them popping up at home, but let's not pretend it's all bad... not at all.

herbie, if i were upset over 1 day, then i would be inclined to agree with you, but its not.
The whole nature of what it was to work in retail has changed dramaticaly.
I have already listed the changed here, so will not repeat myself, and i feel it wouldn't make a difference to you anyway.
I hope you have a nice christmas.

YANBU Shops are closed here Christmas Day, Boxing Day and most Sundays (Germany), and we haven't imploded yet. I think it's do-able.

Lots of people work in retail and I think they should be able to have a decent quality of life and family time. I think the French have a better model than the English with their 35 hour week and lots of bank holidays.

I wondered if there was an argument for moving the Boxing Day bank holiday to that strange period of the year (Aug-Dec?) where there aren't any at all, spread things out a bit more evenly. Plus probably I would take one of the May holidays as well, why do we have two in one month?

Yanbu, I love the sales but would much rather they didn't start until the 27th. I love a bargain as much as anyone but even I really can't be bothered getting up at the crack of dawn on Boxing Day to spend ages going round the sales. It used to be only a few shops opened on Boxing Day, used to have a quick look in Woolies sometimes and one year we bought a washing machine on BD because our old one had broken, but now it seems to be nearly everywhere is starting their sales on BD instead of the 27th.

YABU, I gave birth on christmas eve after the shops shut and have since run out of painkillers - v v glad to be able to send DH out this morning!

Congratulations TeWihara! What a Christmas present! Although tbh, emergency pharmacies could stay open yes, but Next is hardly essential, is it?

I agree that we dont need non-essential shops open on Boxing Day. And I speak as one who loves shopping!

I am working today in retail.

I will be pitying all the poor lonely people who have to come to a shop to get some company on Boxing Day because they have no friends or family they would rather spend time with, or no hobbies they would rather spend a couple of hours doing or even no desire to just veg out in front of the tele and eat chocs.

I am doing my best to be jolly for them even though if they did'nt shop on that day I could be home with my family. So if you are shopping on Boxing Day please smile at the workers.

YANBU at all! I remember when all this was just fields when the shops ALL shut, EVERY SUNDAY, gasp!

How DID we live????? We spent time TOGETHER talking and playing out and about and going for walks and not emptying our pockets on needless crap!!

Bloody consumerist mentalism, thats all it is!