To find Boxing Day Shopping a Bit Sad?

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Just that really!

I remember growing up, EVERYWHERE shut over the Christmas period. The roads were dead. It was very peaceful.

Now, it seems that the January sales have become the 'Boxing Day Sales'! I was chatting to some of my mum's friends and they were planning on going out shopping on Boxing Day!?! How can anyone be bothered?

I have seen what looks like 100s of people queuing outside of Next in freezing icy temperatures at about 4am on a boxing day. It was a horrible morning and a stupid time to be up. I thought that was ammazinging sad. I mean do those people see the real cost of their reduced priced clothes? Is a bargain worth spoiling Christmas over?

I would have not seen this normally as I like a nice relaxing boxing day. I had to work that boxing in the engine yard next to the retail park that night/morning protecting the trains from freezing up while the railway was closed down for engineering. At least I was up that morning keeping essential services running otherwise I would have been in bed.

Having nothing to do except stay at home and spend time with family is only a good thing if you have a nice family. I remember being a teenager when stores started opening on Boxing Day...it made the Christmas period bearable. Finally, an excuse to get the hell out of the snake pit.

I also worked for many years on every Christmas Eve, Boxing Day etc. and loved it. Not every staff member is wishing they were home. Not everyone celebrates Christmas, and not everyone who does is looking to make it an extended holiday.

Not every part of the UK has two bank holidays over xmas.

Opps, mea culpa ! I'm old enough to remember when Scotland didn't get boxing day off.

Not everyone celebrates Christmas, and to them Boxing Day is just another day, why shouldn't they be able to shop/go to the cinema or restaurant?

Boxing Day is for long country walks, then cosying up watching a film, reading a book, nice food not mindless consumerism, don't we get enough of that in the run up to Christmas. But then I don't like sales...

After working the Next sale one year I'd never set foot in that place on Boxing Day. Absolute hell, especially when it's the same stuff on their online sale.

Agreed that it's a duvet day, we usually visit whichever set of parents we didn't spend Christmas Day with. Always makes me sad because my brother works in retail and when he was at uni, often couldn't come home for Christmas because he couldn't get back in time for Boxing Day and I hated that.

Don't think it'd hurt to shut shops for one more day.

It's the people queuing outside at 7am that make me 🙄.
I worked for Adams the kids' clothes shop once (many moons ago), finished at 6pm on Christmas Eve and back at the shop 7am Boxing Day to bring down and set up the sale racks. Really, did anyone need a velour pair of dungarees with Thomas on that badly.

I find it depressing when you see all the stuff you bought for people's gifts etc down to half price.

Every year I say I'm going to do next year's Christmas shopping in the boxing day sales.

If I ruled the world, the sales would start on the 27th. Having said that, Christmas is a lonely time for some people so maybe it's better that there's stuff open/work to do.

I used to work in a clothes shop on a large city high street.
We'd work late Christmas eve getting sales stock out ready for Boxing Day.

Boxing Day was hideous, lots of people browsing, not a lot of buying. It was mostly a chance for groups of shoplifters to run in, grab armfuls of stock and leg it.

Yanbu. We should be able to cope with the shops being shut for 48hrs.

I’d echo what others have said - the shopping/commercialism of he season starts in about September these days, and builds up to an almighty crescendo with everyone primed to shop, shop, shop. Ffs, I’m Jewish and I sometimes find myself in Sainsbury’s looking at mince pies and wrapping paper! Then the 25th comes along, but we’re all still in the shop, shop, shop; consume, consume, consume mindset. It’s not always easy to say, hang on, I don’t need this.

Should be illegal for anywhere to sell anything on Boxing Day and Christmas Day, but then I would do the same every Sunday if/when I ruled the world.

One day a week family time or just chilling, people don’t need to buy food, clothes, petrol etc seven days a week with just a little bit of forethought.

I am not remotely religious but would love to see Sunday’s as proper rest day for as many people as possible and honestly think that after an initial uproar people would see and feel the benefits.

Before anyone pipes up that it’s the only day they get to go shopping I work Monday to Saturday so Sunday is our only day off, it’s really not hard to do stuff the rest of the week.

The sales all start online before Christmas anyway. I had my eye on a couple of things from Toast (lovely clothes but very overpriced). They were 50% off on 21st Dec and I'm waiting for them to arrive!

YANBU, shops should be closed, it's 2 days FGS. I don't buy the argument that they should stay open to accommodate people who don't celebrate Christmas as 1. All countries have longstanding festivals and anywhere else you are obliged to observe them 2. more retail staff will wish to observe Christmas than those who do not - why should their needs come lower 3. It's 2 days FGS, find something else to do.

It's also unfair on retail staff who have to pay for taxis to get to work. Buses don't usually run on boxing day.

Christmas money, my MIL gave me some and I'm planning on hitting the online sales hard on Boxing Day, from my iPad mind. I think the instore sales are a damp squib.

Most of the big sales have already started online, so I just shop from the comfort of my own home.

I can't be bothered with the chaos of going into the shops on Boxing Day.

My birthday is next week so I'll go shopping on the day for a few hours but not just for the sales.

Yanbu. Boxing day is for a family walk.

Just because that’s one person’s tradition doesn’t mean everyone should. I won’t be shopping on Boxing Day as I hate shopping but each to their own.

I used to love working Christmas Eve, Boxing Day etc in my teens and twenties, I needed the money and it was nice to be with workmates. (Done my fair share of Christmas Day work since too)

Do people really go for long, country walks on Boxing Day or is this just a MN thing?

(We spend Boxing Day slobbing and picking on cold pigs in blankets and Heroes)

Well, not everybody has family so I don’t think you can dictate that far!

I do feel shops should be shut for two days, though.

I do think it sad that people seemingly cannot survive without shops for more than one day. DC and DIL work in retail. They will be starting work at 5am on Boxing Day, so that impacts on their ability to relax and maybe have a drink on Christmas Day. I worked in retail 20 years ago. We never opened on Boxing Day. In fact, we only ever opened on NYD once, and we were the only big store in our town to do so. About three customers all day and of those, only one bought anything - a replacement gasket for their pressure cooker. I often wonder how much it cost the company to sell a £1.49 item on that day! I no longer work in the sector and seeing how it's changed, I'm glad. I feel sorry for all retail workers.

Not everyone has to be up at stupid o'clock thankfully.

We close at 1pm Christmas Eve and do all our sales preparation then - we're normally away by 2, but we get paid our full shift. Then we open 10-5 Boxing Day at double time, and 9-6 the 27th, again at double time.

I realise I'm very lucky to get that, though. Most retail workers get regular pay and will be up at 5am, it's awful.

All the people who want shops open to get away from their families, what about shop staff who actually want to be with theirs for just two days over the Christmas period?

"All the people who want shops open to get away from their families, what about shop staff who actually want to be with theirs for just two days over the Christmas period?"

Yes, I feel bad. I might go shopping if the shops are open, but don't really want to encourage it because I do think workers, apart from emergency services, should get time with family over Christmas.