Should all shops be closed on Boxing Day?

Gloomendoom

Lily-Rose wrote: »

Post 148; tl;dr

all I picked up from reading a couple of lines is the poster calling anyone who disagrees with them 'unpleasant.' Go figure!

Indeed. They seem to have forgotten that this is a discussion forum.

Izadora

Lily-Rose wrote: »

I agree with Catkins, and there is no need to spend all day cooking and juggling pots and pans at all! A roast meal is easy and simple to prepare, and the washing up can be done quickly and easily with 2 or 3 pairs of hands. Half the day? What an exaggeration!

A simple roast is quick and easy enough but what we like for our Christmas dinner is a lot more elaborate than a simple roast. There's also not enough space in my kitchen to have 3 pairs of hands doing the washing up, you'd be tripping up over each other rather than it being a help. That's where disposable roasting trays are a fabulous idea

Lily-Rose wrote: »

And who says you have to have masses of extended family anyway? What's wrong with just you and your partner and kids (if you have them.)

There's nothing wrong with having Christmas with just you and your partner but, as many people's objections to shops opening interfering with spending time with extended family show, a lot of people like to spend Christmas with those closest to them so will often involve parents and siblings as well. There's nothing wrong with that either.

It really would be so lovely if people could accept that Christmas means different things to different people and whatever's right for you doesn't mean that what's right for other people is wrong.

Person_one

Spendless wrote: »

They might have just moved in to a house without adequate kitchen/dining facilities. They might be recuperating from an op or have an illness that makes standing for prolonged times too difficult. It might be the first Christmas after a bereavement for someone and they want to do something 'different' and not be reminded of the previous year by the empty table space at home. They might want to see their student or young adult offspring who lives away and also works a job over Christmas period on the day itself and student/young person doesn't have room to accommodate them.

Some people seem to have an astonishing lack of imagination about the many ways in which other people's lives can differ from their own!

The stereotypical happy-family-all-together-mum-cooks-the-turkey Christmas of the TV ads is probably a minority in reality. I'll be working this Christmas so mine won't be like that, neither will my colleague's or the people we'll be caring for, or their families!

duchy

I don't think it's about not fitting the stereotypes it's to do with the insistence that other people's enjoyment of the holiday is compromised by the insistence of some that they can't bear to wait one more day of hands on retail therapy (even though the on line option is freely available).

Short opening hours, genuine free choice for the workers to work it or not and mandatory premium pay would all go towards a decent compromise but the corporate machine isn't doing any of that. Stuff like the Next nonsense makes it even worse. It's just all about greed and self gratification.

Person_one

I'm no fan of boxing day sales (I wouldn't be a fan of shops opening at 5am for 'big events' any day!) but I do wonder why people who are so up in arms about it don't insist that everything stops for the days that are important to other people, Eid, Diwali, Yom Kippur, Chinese New Year, Vaisakhi etc. All the same reasoning applies, these are days when the people to whom it is significant want to be with their families, rest, celebrate etc. and there's no reason why the rest who don't want to do so can't wait 24 hours to go shopping...

duchy

And that is exactly what happens. Try shopping in Golders Green on Yom Kipur and all Jewish businesses are closed for example. Faith and family take priority over retail sales on those days.

I work with several Twenty something Muslims. My company is open both Christmas Day and Boxing Day although Christmas Day is entirely voluntary. Some are happy to work as there is a decent financial incentive for others it is unthinkable as it's a big family occasion when everyone gets together just like it is for many other families. Many people feel the family aspect is important even if for them it's a secular celebration.

As I said earlier on principle the only shopping I'll do on Boxing Day will be online and I also avoid Next year round as I think their Boxing Day shenanigans illustrates how poorly they regard their staff so I choose not to spend my money with them. If others want to spend theirBoxing day sitting in traffic jams waiting to get into car parks and then battling the crowd good luck to them. Me I'll be snuggled up with good friends and family and lovely food knowing I've not wrecked anyone else's holiday .

Person_one

duchy wrote: »

And that is exactly what happens.

Sorry but... :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

Apart from a very few small businesses owned and run by people who also celebrate the occasion, Muslim, Jewish, Sikh, Hindu, Pagan, Zoroastrian, Rastafarian people and anybody else from any culture with a significant day that traditionally would have meant no work and marking it with loved ones just have to ask for annual leave and hope for the best if they want the day off.

clint_S

I've been think about this and I realise I never knew retail shops, like Next or even Tesco, opened on Boxing day. I admit I hate shopping the best of times, but why would anyone want to shop on Boxing day?


Now working on working Boxing day, I did it last year and this year I'm working the week up to and including Xmas day. I hand over on Boxing day morning to another employee. I knew there was a chance I would be working on either xmas day or boxing day and took the risk. In my last employment I had to be on site from Xmas eve to new years day, including xmas day and boxing day. I left that job for this reason. If you don't like it leave, if you can't leave up skill and then leave. There are thousands of online course, up to and including advanced degrees, that you can do in your spare time.

Raspberry_Queen

Lily-Rose wrote: »

Post 148; tl;dr

all I picked up from reading a couple of lines is the poster calling anyone who disagrees with them 'unpleasant.' Go figure!

I agree with Catkins, and there is no need to spend all day cooking and juggling pots and pans at all! A roast meal is easy and simple to prepare, and the washing up can be done quickly and easily with 2 or 3 pairs of hands. Half the day? What an exaggeration!

I cannot fathom why people would rather pay £60-90 per head to have someone else cook dinner, rather than cook their Christmas dinner themselves.

Because they want to. They're paying for the ease of not having to cook, and (hopefully) a better quality Christmas dinner. Not everyone can cook, not everyone enjoys cooking. I can't fathom why you don't understand other people's choices?

And who says you have to have masses of extended family anyway? What's wrong with just you and your partner and kids (if you have them.) What is this obsession people have with HAVING to be at someone else's house for Christmas, or having someone at theirs for Christmas?

Because they want to. No one says they have to. I don't, but I understand that many other people want to.

And who on EARTH would use more than one tank of petrol 'visiting people?' :huh: Why on earth travel 600-800 miles to see various family members on Christmas day? (And boxing day?) Can people not just stay in their own home? And nobody is going to convince me that there is NO other time in the year that they can see extended family, other than these 2 days.

I would be seriously re-assessing my Christmas if I was travelling 600-800 miles over Christmas day and boxing day to visit people! As I said, just stay at home, and see them another time. Surely people would see anyone who is important in their life on a fairly regular basis anyway?

People who want to visit their friends and relatives, who live 600-800 miles away? It's not hard to understand...

I can't fathom driving multiple 100s of miles on Christmas day and boxing day to see people. :huh: If they lived far away, and you just HAD to see them on Christmas day and boxing day, surely you would stay with them? (Or near them in a hotel or something.) Using multiple tanks of petrol to travel up and down the country to see various people on Christmas day and boxing day makes no sense to me.

What about people who have to travel for emergencies? (Eg when a relative has fallen ill, or given birth and you want to visit them). People would be screwed if the petrol stations weren't open.

The things people are coming out with on this thread are baffling to be honest!

My take on the original post is there is no need at all for shops to be open boxing day, and I am stunned at the attitude of some who think shop workers should be there for their shopping pleasure.

Are you not happy that the shops are open for 363 days of the year FGS? Next will be people saying 'I am not interested in Christmas, so I insist the shops open on Christmas day for ME.'

I will sign ANY petition to have shops closed boxing day.

I am baffled by your inability to understand other people's opinions and preferences... You also sound judgemental.

So because you really don't want shops to be open on Boxing Day, you think they shouldn't be allowed to open?

Obviously many people enjoy the sales, and they generate a lot of money; if the Boxing Day sales were not successful, they wouldn't exist. This proves how popular they are. If they decide to ban Boxing Day shopping, tens of millions of pounds (perhaps more) of business would be lost, millions of pounds of wages would be lost, and millions of people who enjoy the sales would miss out.

(Having said that, they would probably just move it to a 27th Dec sale)

Raspberry_Queen

UK Parliament, I would ask what effect this would have on the economy, especially the high street, which are struggling to compete with online shopping.