to think that Sunday is a normal day and people should behave accordingly.

[HookedOnHooking]

It's fucking medieval that shops are only allowed to open a few hours and not allowed to sell gin at a specific point. It is 2015 FFS.

I like my son, Hooked

Times have changed. All this lovely time off with the family is pretty pointless for people who live alone and are single.
Fine, give people Sundays off if they joined retail St a time when that was the norm and those were the T&C s.
Otherwise I don't see any reason for Sunday and public holidays like Boxing day not to offer shopping and entertainment to those who want it.
The family set up that was there years ago isn't the norm for a lot of people now.

You are grumpiest Mumsnetter I have ever, ever encountered

Stroppy teenagers/toddlers. Arguments. All the 'I can't do my homework'. 'Where's my pe kit'. Who moved my books. 'Put your uniform in the wash'. Pack your bag. 'I Nneed a 3 month project completely created in 2 hours'. 'I need £800 for a trip by tomorrow'.

All that pre-Monday pressure. Makes me anxious and nauseous just thinking about it. Who thinks that is quality family time?

Ha, when I got halfway through the thread I KNEW you were going to say you worked for the NHS

I think you need to call OOH and get some pain killers, Hooked. They may put you in a better mood

YY! Absolutely ridiculous! I want to pop to the shops but I have to squash everything into 11-5 (angry). Sundays are the most depressing days of the week

Lady I wasn't arguing that retail staff should be fine with a day off in the week with family, I meant a lie in works differently when you do shift work as most retail staff do - so you might get to sleep in during the week, or Saturday, etc. As for family time, my argument was that Sunday Trading Law doesn't protect family time because shorter store opening hours do not necessarily mean shorter working days, just different work.

Trust me, I would have thoroughly appreciated a short Sunday when I worked retail! The reality however was that Sunday Trading Law made no difference to the employees of my store, just the customers, so I don't think it's a good argument to say it benefits staff when it isn't any guarantee of that.

Then you drag them out for a lovely walk. Someone's shoes rub, it's cold, someone falls over, the dog gets muddy, it's all just such hard work and enforced jollity.

I work nights in a shop that's open 24/7 even XMAS day (I worked XMAS day) and Sunday is just another work day for me (accept not today because I'm on holiday :) yay)

I'd be happy to have restricted hours on a Sunday, so shops open the same amount of time as they are now but say from 8am - 2pm or 2pm to 8 pm or something.

Being only open in the middle of the day is far more restrictive on 'family time' than anything else.

Anyway. It is finally time to go and do my shopping.

I will purchase gin.

Do you want to keep schools open at the weekends as well?

YY to hating Sundays..I have to go back to a job I hate tomorrow :(

Times have changed. All this lovely time off with the family is pretty pointless for people who live alone and are single.

Even before I had DS, I loved a quiet Sunday. Go to the beach, go for a picnic, or just stay home and have a lazy afternoon nap. Bliss.

And then of course as I am putting on my boots, H decides he's coming. But he is wearing pyjamas. So now I have to wait for him.

Unbelieable. I have no words.

Here in Scotland supermarkets are open 24/7. Alcohol isn't allowed to be sold until after 10 or 12, can never remember coz i have never needed alcohol at that time of the day.

Most other shops if they are open on Sundays open at 12pm.

I like how the shops have limited hours however it doesn't really affect me coz I tend to hibernate at weekends.

I usually have a quiet Sunday at home but I want to have the choice to do other things if I feel like it.

And as for Christmas... I find the enforced family jollity expectations hard enough. I've already booked to go away again to somewhere that has facilities that are open and running.

I don't shop on a Sunday - quite deliberately - used to work in retail and employers take the p.... "we need someone to cover Sunday this week, next week forever "

and by the way - you don't get paid more for working in a shop on a Sunday... they are "a normal working day"

I think it's a shame that Sundays are just like any other day now. It's the fault of greedy retailers. Really no need for likes of supermarkets to be open on a Sunday. I'm old enough to recall a time when they weren't and no one suffered because they couldn't buy anything on that day. There was the trusty corner if you'd ran out of milk or wanted a paper.

Everything has got too busy, too 24/7, it's shit!

Go without him. I would.

When I joined retail we didn't open Sundays or Boxing Day and had restricted opening hours on bank holidays
Then we did open Sundays but we got paid extra for it and were only in for the hours the store was open
Then we started opening Boxing Day and got paid extra for it
Then we started opening 8-8 on bank holidays

Then they stopped paying Sunday premium
Then they stopped paying bank holiday premium
Then they made Sundays 8 hour days
Then they made us work 8 hours on Easter Sunday even though the store was closed

Then they made loads of us redundant

Ah the wonderful world of retail

What I don't understand is why retail is so bloody special. Is it somehow more of a problem to work in a full shift on a Sunday in Asda than in nandos or Burger King or wetherspoons? Even some of the people who want Sunday turned into something from the western isles in the 1950s want an exception for pubs opening at lunchtime.

and that 18yeartooold is why you don't try to appease employers who try to crap on you, because it isn't ever a 2 way street!

Asda customer services open early, they woke rang me at 8.15am!