to think it is good that supermarkets/express/garages are all closed christmas day

[WillowTit]

i am sure in previous years shops would open for a couple of hours
discovered that we dont have enough wine but apart from premium overpriced stores shops are shut
and major garages too
i have enough petrol,
we will manage without the extra wine
i am glad the shops are shut
aibu

Even a job agency is working today as got an email for an interview on Friday!

Not really dramatically affected though

I am pleased to report that the restaurant where I've just had lunch asked for volunteers to work on Christmas day and had no trouble getting them. They're paying enhanced rates and the staff share the tips - they're expecting to be busy later on.

The person who served me told me when I asked that she was delighted not to have to accompany her parents to the big family party at her cousin's house. When I left the management thanked me for choosing to share my Christmas with them. I certainly didn't get the impression that anyone had been compelled to work there today.

Plenty of places are still open here - we went to the beach with the dog this morning and passed two pubs (both open), the petrol station (open for pay at the pump) and the local convenience shop (open until 11pm). I'm fairly certain that Tesco is only shut because it has to be!

I can't see an issue, really. Lots of people don't celebrate Christmas or, for various reasons, don't want to be at home alone. Why shouldn't they be able to work (or shop) if they want?

But I grew up with parents who worked all over the festive period, so it wasn't until I was in my late twenties that I ever actually had a Christmas "off" as such.

Perhaps you should, except they will be polite and say they are, so you still won’t know.

What if someone was honest and said ‘you know what, I’d rather spend it with my family but I need the job’? It won’t happen: people tend to be professional and courteous which is more than many of us deserve.

When I left the management thanked me for choosing to share my Christmas with them

Obviously. You weren’t eating for free, were you?

And yes, it’s about money, isn’t it? More people eating out = more money = more money for staff = more staff working = more people having to work.

Its not very pleasant and I’m not choosing to be a part of it.

Oh you simply aren't going to accept that some people are working and quite genuinely have no problem with it. I think I'm quite capable of interpreting someone when they tell me they're more than happy to have had a valid excuse not to go to a family party they described as stressful.

Please yourself. No one is forcing you to.

It is good, hopefully soon Boxing Day will be the same and they will remain closed then as well.
They wanted to open Christmas day at one of my student jobs, years ago (totally unnecessary). Out of around 100 staff, 4 volunteered. They threatened to rota people on anyway, but after being told people absolutely would not be turning up regardless, they shelved the idea!
I am now in a job where I finished up a few days ago and won't be back until well into January as the office is closed, but still don't see a need for shops to be open today or tomorrow, unless of course everyone working in them genuinely wants to work a Christmas day shift.

Of course I accept that @ilovesooty

I know some people will work because they want to and some will not be fussed one way or the other and that’s fine. My problem is that it has an eroding affect over time which means that some people will end up working because they have to (and despite what you say that will apply to some people today, even if not the people who actually served you) and I don’t like that. I think it’s wrong: morally dubious given these don’t tend to be the higher earners and also moreover that there ends up being a disconnect between those who have working on this day thrust upon them whether they like it or not because it’s become normalised.

‘Please yourself’ as a retort is both childish and petulant and doesn’t come across as someone open to being reasonable or respectful to others’ wants and desires.

Just because you "don't see a need" doesn't mean the need doesn't exist. Or even the "want." If companies decide to supply shopping hours in response to demand, that's their prerogative.

The world and the marketplace have evolved. Most households don't have SAH people who can shop on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Other cultures are disinterested in Christian religious days of worship or holidays; why should they be inconvenienced?

Commerce is 24/7 now.

There is just a small grey space between ‘only able to shop twice a week in the morning’ and ‘closing for one day.’

I apologise if my response seemed petulant but trying to debate with someone who appeared to be doubting my word was becoming increasingly frustrating. I also didn't care for your implied moral superiority by choosing not to patronise shops and restaurants on Christmas day and the subtle attempt to shame people who do.

Since none of us generally know other people's circumstances completely (my server today seemed very transparent in her relief at avoiding her family party) I don't see why people can't be allowed to choose the businesses they want to use and the days they want to use them. I've already said that I don't think people should be compelled to work on Christmas day in non emergency roles but if you go to work in hospitality or in a small retail outlet it should hardly come as a surprise if you're asked to.

And others have lamented the lack of closures on Boxing Day and Sundays.

They seem utterly oblivious to the fact that not everyone shares their lifestyle, religion, nostalgia, or preferences.

In that case, the need didn't exist. I would argue a "need" hardly every exists, more a demand (in terms of retail of course, not emergency services and the like).
If you can see a need for a high end fashion retailer to be open on Christmas day by all means let me know, but myself and most of the other staff didn't. They opened New Year's Day and it was great as we were paid extra but we never had a single customer so got more money to literally sit down and have a catch up with coworkers.
I'm not religious nor do I even work from home, but it is sad if we can't even have one day off from consumerism. We won't die if Tesco Express closes for 2 days.

It's as if we all have different lives, isn't it...

While I'm waiting for the bird to cook, may I just add that this is the United Kingdom. A lack of teabags or milk (whether it has been forgotten or dropped on the floor) constitutes an emergency. For goodness sake, this country is built on tea and there is no way on God's green earth that someone should have to go without on Christmas Day. That's just not cricket and I don't even drink the stuff.

It actually wasn't. Mithras wasn't born of a virgin or any other mother - he emerged from a rock. His connection to the 25th is fairly weak and most writing on it comes from the last few centuries.

None of the gospels have Jesus born in a cave - some later traditions made the connection due to some communities keeping their animals in caves, nothing to do with Mithras. The date of the 25th of December and 6th of January come from early church leaders calculations as they developed a calendar separate from Jewish leaders as Christianity was separating out from Judaism.

Some writers, particularly in the late 1700s and through the 1800s though some resurgence in recent years, combined Mithras with others to try to create that connection to push the idea that everything Christian comes from some type of polytheism, erasing both the roots in Judaism and the history of the early churches. They also nearly always ignore the Eastern churches and the 6th of January.

It is a type of moral superiority but don’t we all? Is someone who is vegetarian being morally superior or just doing what they believe to be right?

I do believe it’s wrong to make others to work Christmas Day; it doesn’t mean I believe everyone who goes out or goes to a shop is evil or anything dramatic like that. I do believe that we’ve had a societal shift in my lifetime and I’m not sure it’s one I like particularly but in the scheme of things it’s probably no big deal.

I'm working today (cabin crew) and I do not want to. None of my colleagues particularly want to either. Some do volunteer to cover xmas day and the rest of us are VERY thankful for this. There's no incentives or bonuses for those that do. We have no choice, it's luck of the draw with what you are scheduled.

We are not paid any extra. We are not an essential service. Our management are all off and at home with their families, We are just a number to them.

No one NEEDS to fly on Christmas day. I am sacrificing my Christmas with my children due to greedy airlines and greedy selfish passengers wanting a cheap flight. It makes me so angry.

And before anyone tells me to get a new job if I'm not happy, it's just not that easy in the real world.

Not all shops were closed. Some shops were open, such as newsagents. Our parents had one and Wednesday afternoons & Sundays were our busiest days of the week because few other places were open. It was bonanza time for us if Bonfire night fell on a Wednesday and for Mother's day when literally we couldn't have enough stock to sell - however much we ordered was never enough as we were limited by storage space! Same on hot Summer Sundays when we'd run out of ice creams/lollies and cold drinks. The demand was certainly there even back then in the 70s!

Oh, come on. Saying that no one "needs" to fly is ridiculous. You don't know everyone's circumstances and Christmas is meaningless to millions of people.

I'm sorry you are assigned to work when it is not convenient for you but those are the breaks in a 24/7 operation. I used to be a journalist and worked my share of Christmases.

You don’t get paid extra on public holidays?

I think this kind of shows what I mean.

Yes, there’s always going to be a need for a minimal service in terms of public transport and aviation and the like regardless of the day. But the more people work because the more places are open the more other places need to open. And the more normalised it becomes the harder it is to close that door in effect.

Like I say, in the grand scheme of things it’s no big deal except it is a day a lot of people cherish whether for religious reasons or other reasons.

I have to say, I do find it a bit odd when people deliberately go out of their way to train for 24-7 type careers, and then complain because they actually have to work shifts that cover those hours, lol.

It's not like retail or bar work where you don't need qualifications and pick it up out of necessity - cabin crew go through rigorous testing and take multiple exams to qualify - why do all that if you're not prepared to work weekends, or nights, or public holidays? It would be a bit like someone training to be a nurse even though they can't stand the sight of blood