Page 7 | to think that Sunday is a normal day and people should behave accordingly.

HookedOnHooking · 2015-02-22T09:37:39+00:00

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.

MrsItsNoworNotatAll · 22/02/2015 18:34

Oh I see. Thanks for clearing that up! Bet you never did that again

SpringTimeIsComing · 22/02/2015 18:38

Nope I never did but I used to hang it in the garage on clothes horses with the door open where no-one could see

MrsItsNoworNotatAll · 22/02/2015 18:44

Hahaha!!

80schild · 22/02/2015 18:53

It's horribly bigoted to make the entire country live by rules set by the minority.

I live in a very Jewish area of London and have also worked for Jewish companies - in winter they close their businesses at lunchtime on Friday so they can be home for the start of Shabbat. Last time I checked Saturday is also a weekend day.

Personally I am not understanding why people are getting so excited about this issue.

grovel · 22/02/2015 19:17

I don't like Sundays being quiet for religious reasons. I do like the idea of a "quiet" day in the week when as many people as possible are able to regroup with their families, see friends etc. The point is that they need to be available to each other at the same time.

I also like the convenience of shopping on the "quiet day".

I can't square this circle.

I was sad that an elderly neighbour couldn't get several children/grand-children/nephews/ nieces to her 80th birthday party today. They were working and could not change their shifts in (mostly) non-vital occupations.

Mumbehavingbadly · 22/02/2015 19:32

Having Sunday as a collective pause - where all those but the essential worker (who should be paid extra to compensate) have a day of collective rest and the opportunity to participate in community life - family community, local community, school community, church community, knitting community, cycling community , whatever you fancy community that brings you together with others who are not your work colleagues - would benefit not just individual health but the health of the nation.

You know if we respected Sunday on the grounds that notionally this is a Christian country and this is the Christian Sabbath day it would help reinforce all those national values that politicians and many on MN bangs on about it being important everyone (immigrants especially ) share in.
If there is no collective pause with a cultural narrative attached then we're all reduced to being commodities to be scheduled 24/7/365 by global businesses to produce profit at their whim.

Oh wait ... Yeh ... That's modern Britain plc.

PiperIsTerrysChoclateOrange · 22/02/2015 19:43

I think it's a perk having week days off.

I love it, get the dc to school and go for a swim in which you can actually swim. Shop without the hussle and bustle of the manic weekend shoppers.
I can crack on with housework with music full blast as neighbours are at work.

Andrewofgg · 22/02/2015 20:25

Mumbehavingbadly The original impetus toward reform of the Sunday trading laws came in the Sixties when substantial numbers of people of Asian origin opened small shops and many local authorities were unwilling to prosecute them for not keeping the Christian Sabbath - especially when Jewish-owned shops could open part of Sunday (but had to close Saturday).

Once that happened, they obviously had to turn a blind eye to all small businesses opening on Sunday - in fact in some areas it was only the Jewish-owned small businesses which were not open seven days a week!

Then of course some of the bigger businesses joined the party, but it was a gradual change. By the time the law caught up in 1994 it was only the big retailers which were being stopped from opening by the law, and then not in every district.

The 1994 compromise (six hours for the big shops, do as you please for the small ones) is already looking a bit dated in the days of internet trading and one of these days the bricks-and-mortar shops will have to be allowed to set their own hours - unless you think we can ban people from buying online on Sunday!

What is blatantly out of the question is any renewed attempt to impose the Christian Sabbath, in any shape or form, on a country like this. It just would not work.

BetterTogether75 · 22/02/2015 20:41

This 24-7 bollocks does my head in. I quite like pubs being open on a Sunday, although I rarely take advantage of it these days. I like watching football on TV on a Sunday, but really? If everything but the emergency services shut down, it would be fine by me, the world would keep turning and more people would get a chance to just have a rest.

Nothing to do with religion, as grovel and Mumbehavingbadly (among others) have said. I haven't worked a Sunday in 20 years, and I don't expect other people to be forced to do so.

BackforGood · 22/02/2015 21:52

This
Having Sunday as a collective pause - where all those but the essential worker (who should be paid extra to compensate) have a day of collective rest and the opportunity to participate in community life - family community, local community, school community, church community, knitting community, cycling community , whatever you fancy community that brings you together with others who are not your work colleagues - would benefit not just individual health but the health of the nation

I love the phrase "collective pause" and thing society as a whole would benefit hugely from it.

leftangle · 22/02/2015 21:55

You want shops open on a Sunday because it's the day you don't work. But then you want banks open, etc, and more and more people end up working on Sundays. Including you OP - which then looses the point. So eventually we'll all have random days off, never the same days as our partner, children, family.

The problem now is that if one shop opens all the others feel they will be losing out if they don't open too so none dare to close
I'm reasonably sure the same level of sales would occur if the shops were all shut on Sundays but with lower running costs. And internet shop pickers/deliverers could perfectly well stop for one day.

And yes I know there are plenty of people who do need to work but I don't see why it means as many as possible shouldn't have a free day.
Nothing to do with religion - doesn't have to be a Sunday. Just one day a week with fewer things going on.

kickassangel · 23/02/2015 00:04

I have absolutely no desire for a collective pause. Get together witha group of friends and enjoy each other's company if you want. I also have no problem with most stuff being open most of the time and DH and I working on a kind of rolling pattern where there could be one, neither or both of us at home on any given day.

I could live with there being an arbitrary day off that was chosen for some reason other than we're all meant to follow one religious groups patterns just because they say so.

SoupDragon · 23/02/2015 07:19

I could live with there being an arbitrary day off

That's pretty much what Sunday has changed into though. I certainly don't view it as a religious day.

I think the Sunday current opening hours etc are a good compromise between the "day of rest" and a normal day.

TeacupDrama · 23/02/2015 07:56

In the vast majority of Europe shops shut lunchtime on Saturday very touristy places excepted
I do not think 24/7 society is healthy, proper breaks are good for mental and physical health and would benefit families

YoGatoradeMeBitch · 23/02/2015 10:34

All the posters who think the trading laws are for retail workers benefit.... Its not

I work in retail and on Sundays the minimum I do is a 5 hour shift and the maximum is a 10 hour shift. Not by choice, its the needs of the business. I actually don't remember the last time I did a 5 hour shift. And I don't get paid a Sunday premium.

I don't mind working Sundays, I don't have to worry about childcare as the DC are with their Dad. I do however sell non essential items. When I have a customer freaking out because their requested colour of pretty top is not in stock I do wonder wtf has happened to people. What would said customer have done before shops where open on a Sunday...?

YoGatoradeMeBitch · 23/02/2015 10:35

Also hope you and your DD are felling better today OP.

chiefbrody · 23/02/2015 10:46

I too work in retail although only part time and not at the weekend. I work every bank holiday though and I am always amazed [well not really] at the amount of people that shop and really cannot find anything else to do with their children.

I also hate it when a customer comes in and says ' its a shame you have to work'............. several times I have answered ' i would not have to if people could find something else to do'

retail= its all about the money

Andrewofgg · 23/02/2015 10:59

I asked this upthread but I will ask again. What about petrol? If the petrol stations had to close a lot of people would not have to work and we could all fill up on Saturday, couldn't we?

How about the newspapers? How about Monday's papers? Fresh produce Monday?

None of them life and death and they all involve Sunday working!

chiefbrody · 23/02/2015 11:03

I believe nothing should be open regarding retail....

includes petrol stations and newspapers and fresh food....

YoGatoradeMeBitch · 23/02/2015 11:17

Andrewofgg maybe its not a case of life or death or not. Petrol keeps us all moving, warehouse pickers ensure the supermarkets are well stocked on monday etc... As someone mentioned up thread the lampshade shopping is non essential.

It is a shame to see the same kids dragged around the shop every week. It seems to be a ritual. Perhaps a walk to a local hotspot or a trip to the cinema would be more beneficial. Yes the cinema needs to be staffed but I know where my kids would rather be!

Andrewofgg · 23/02/2015 12:27

chiefbrody and the gift shops in cathedrals?

And the Jewish owned shops which are closed on Saturday?

geekymommy · 23/02/2015 16:39

I can tell you, it isn't because you have a state religion. In the US, our Constitution forbids the establishment of a state religion, and we have laws about when alcohol can be sold on Sundays, too (they vary by state). We used to have laws about stores being open on Sundays, but a lot of those are gone in many places now.

MrsItsNoworNotatAll · 23/02/2015 17:23

Retail = it's all about the money

Oh yes...and then some.

Yogatorademebitch a colleague had something similar happen to her. I remember the rant on Fb and laughing but at the same time feeling sorry for her.A gloriously Sunny Sunday and she's working and in comes this family. Well the mother throws an epic tantrum, one a toddler would be proud of, simply because there wasn't any Sausage rolls left. My colleague didn't hold back. Words to the effect of seriously was that all she had to worry about on a gorgeous day like this? How lucky she was to be able to go to the park whilst she (my colleague) was stuck behind the counter dealing with customers whinging cos they can't have a Sausage roll or whatever. Now yeah, we got that crap every other day as well but when it's on a Sunday and the Suns out and everyone else but you is out enjoying yourselves, well it grates a bit.

But hey it doesn't matter does it. As long as some people have the choice of buying non essential stuff - who knew fecking Sausage rolls were essential on a Sunday! then it's fine. Folk with families or otherwise will have to give up their time to ensure they have there precious sausage rolls.

Housemum · 27/02/2015 17:28

When I was a child, Sundays were the crappest day of the week with sod all to do. And I miss it. I'd love Sundays to be different from the rest (the collective pause as said above). Yes, we could individually make Sundays different, but how much better if everyone was off. Even though some Sundays I will be working (NHS here too)

PinotGreedy · 27/02/2015 21:50

I was once hiking for a weekend with friends. We had found a little bunk house thing near the start of the track and arranged to stay there on the Friday night (1950s style Christian camp). When we popped back on the Sunday to collect our cars and pay the custodian she went all weird when my friend pulled out his cheque book (this was the 90s, when cheques existed). She said, 'but you can't write a cheque as then the date on the cheque will be a Sunday!'. I think she actually believed that this would invalidate the cheque.