Should all shops be closed on Boxing Day?

annandale

Some shops do open on Christmas day. Some corner shops where I live open on Xmas and new years day. Not everyone celebrates Xmas and it's just another working day for many

Lily-Rose_3

clint_S wrote: »

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.

I agree that there is no need for shops to be open Boxing day. As I said earlier, there are 363 OTHER days of the year people can shop. But no, no, no, that's not enough for some. After a whole day at home, they just have to get out to the sales on boxing day, with not a single thought for the retail staff who would rather be with their family.

It's quite unbelievable really. Personally, I would rather spend time with my family than go around looking for cheap tat in some naff sale, where most stuff on offer is the rubbish they can't get rid of anyway.

What I do find difficult to get on board with though is you saying 'find another job.' For many, it's not a clear cut and simple as that.

duchy wrote: »

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). Stuff like the Next nonsense makes it even worse. It's just all about greed and self gratification.

:T

duchy wrote: »

If others want to spend their Boxing 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 .

This ^^^ :T:T:T

duchy wrote: »

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.

Exactly! Other faiths have time off for their special occasions, no matter how some people like to think otherwise. During Chinese New Year, every single Chinese restaurant and takeaway is shut for 10 days to 2 weeks. Same with Indian restaurants and takeaways and the restaurants and shops of other cultures and faiths.

As you say, for many, many people, Faith and family take priority over retail sales and profit. And I re-iterate, shops closing on boxing day is something I wholly support, and I sincerely hope it happens.

Proxima_Centauri

annandale wrote: »

Some shops do open on Christmas day. Some corner shops where I live open on Xmas and new years day. Not everyone celebrates Xmas and it's just another working day for many

Yes, the corner shop near where we used to live opened on Christmas day from 10 till 4. They never had a day off, poor people. But it was a small family business and I think they were of the mindset that if there was money to be made, they'll open up the shop! We used to call him Arkwright :rotfl:


Regarding larger retailers, there used to be 2 days of the year when they all shut - Easter and Christmas Day. Now it's only Christmas Day. And I fear it won't be long before they also open on Christmas Day too

BarryBlue

Raspberry_Queen wrote: »

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)

I agree with you entirely. There may be no "need" to go shopping on Boxing Day, but it is all about personal choice. There is no "need" to go shopping today, 7th December, either, so why the difference? The answer, usually, lies somewhere within religion, and the fact that many religious people cannot resist telling other people how to live their lives. Sunday trading is just the same.

I just wish people would live and let live. Nobody is compelled to shop on Boxing Day (and I wouldn't dream of joining in with the mayhem) but why must various busybodies try to dictate to others what they do and when they do it?

We enjoy going out for lunch on Xmas Day with friends rather than suffer the nightmare of a turkey dinner. It is our choice, and the restaurant will be full of happy people having a good time and spending £22 a head on a lovely meal. Again, nobody is forced to attend!;)

Premises choose to open (or not) on commercial grounds. The economy is in a state and needs all the help it can get. If people didn't want to go, they would stay closed. Maybe we should insist that churches stay closed over the holiday too.:D

tooldle

Boxing Day, is not a religious holiday.
It is a workers holiday, much like May Day.

BarryBlue

Lily-Rose wrote: »

Exactly! Other faiths have time off for their special occasions, no matter how some people like to think otherwise. During Chinese New Year, every single Chinese restaurant and takeaway is shut for 10 days to 2 weeks. Same with Indian restaurants and takeaways and the restaurants and shops of other cultures and faiths.

Is this actually serious? :rotfl:

Go to any Chinatown and it will be absolutely bouncing at Chinese New Year. All the restaurants will be open and most will have special banquets for the occasion. Your local Balti house will certainly not be closing for Eid, Ramadan or anything else, and other Indian cultures are just the same. Our favourite curry pub is run by Hindus and Diwali is a serious celebration there.

If people want to sit at home watching telly with granny over the holiday, that's fine. Some of us are not so bothered with family we never see, and the majority of people have no interest in any religious aspect of the holiday.

bluebear36

Lily-Rose wrote: »

I agree that there is no need for shops to be open Boxing day. As I said earlier, there are 363 OTHER days of the year people can shop. But no, no, no, that's not enough for some. After a whole day at home, they just have to get out to the sales on boxing day, with not a single thought for the retail staff who would rather be with their family.

It's quite unbelievable really. Personally, I would rather spend time with my family than go around looking for cheap tat in some naff sale, where most stuff on offer is the rubbish they can't get rid of anyway.

What I do find difficult to get on board with though is you saying 'find another job.' For many, it's not a clear cut and simple as that.



:T



This ^^^ :T:T:T



Exactly! Other faiths have time off for their special occasions, no matter how some people like to think otherwise. During Chinese New Year, every single Chinese restaurant and takeaway is shut for 10 days to 2 weeks. Same with Indian restaurants and takeaways and the restaurants and shops of other cultures and faiths.

As you say, for many, many people, Faith and family take priority over retail sales and profit. And I re-iterate, shops closing on boxing day is something I wholly support, and I sincerely hope it happens.

Thankfully your opinion doesn't apply to Scotland. We have only two days of the year where shops are completely closed; xmas day and new years day, although there is still the odd wee newsagent and pharmacy open. It has been like this for a long long time, and I can't say that I have EVER heard anyone complaining.

To me, it seems like England is still in the dark ages :rotfl::rotfl:

karcher

bluebear36 wrote: »

Thankfully your opinion doesn't apply to Scotland. We have only two days of the year where shops are completely closed; xmas day and new years day, although there is still the odd wee newsagent and pharmacy open. It has been like this for a long long time, and I can't say that I have EVER heard anyone complaining.

To me, it seems like England is still in the dark ages :rotfl::rotfl:

At least in England you can still buy alcohol in shops after 10pm

Dark ages indeed:p

Proxima_Centauri

karcher wrote: »

At least in England you can still buy alcohol in shops after 10pm

Is that a sign of being advanced? :rotfl:

I remember the days when pubs shut at 11pm and we were actually able to get some sleep at night without being woken by idiots walking past the flat squealing drunk at all hours.

We live in a very me-me-me society now.

catkins

LilElvis wrote: »

Not everyone is a good, or even competent, cook. Not everyone has room to seat all of an extended family for a meal. Not everyone wants to spend half their Christmas Day in the kitchen juggling pots and pans whilst the rest of the family relax in the front room.

Some people's journeys will require more than one tank of petrol over the two days.

Normally within a family there is at least one person that can cook and a Christmas dinner or roast is really not that difficult. If no one really can cook or just doesn't want to I would go down the route of frozen roast potatoes, frozen Yorkshires, frozen veg etc. Pretty simple and although not as nice as a homemade roast, certainly better than a restaurant one. Roast dinner is one meal that just never tastes decent eaten out because it all needs to be cooked fresh and not cooked and kept warm.

As the numbers increased for Christmas dinner some of my family talked about eating out but me, OH and a couple of other family members were very much against it. As I said, the food is really not that nice, you can't relax because you are in a restaurant, there are other parties there so you are surrounded by strangers. Me and OH offered to cook, which we have done for quite a few years and now, with our nieces and nephews either being married or with a serious partner, we cook for 18.

The biggest problem is seating everyone but we borrow chairs and use a large fold down table (bit like a wallpaper table but stronger) and we manage even if we are a bit cramped together. It's all good fun.

Not sure how many people would use more than a tank of petrol over only 2 days. That's a lot of mileage. There are self service pumps at lots of petrol stations and almost everyone must have a credit or debit card.

Person_one wrote: »

Petrol is essential. Emergency vehicles, community nurses, care workers etc. all fill up at the same places as everybody else.

Again, how many use a tank full in only 2 days? Also do emergency vehicle drivers not have some sort of fuel card? If so they could use the self service pumps.

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.

Again, they could have frozen items and use a microwave. That would work for the few that might not have kitchen facilities and anyone having problems standing. Although cooking a roast dinner does not really mean a lot of standing. The veg can be peeled while sitting down, the Yorkshire pudding mix can be made sitting down. You would stand to put the potatoes and veg on but only briefly. Again to put the potatoes, Yorkshire mix in the oven would not take long. A roast more or less cooks itself, it's not like cooking a risotto or making a sauce which involve standing over the cooker.

I can't imagine many newly bereaved people would want to go out for Christmas dinner, certainly not on their own. They would be surrounded by happy people - couples, families etc - I don't think they would like that.

I just don't see why places should have to open when there is no real need for them to. Years ago people didn't go out to eat on Christmas Day and I am fairly sure petrol stations didn't open. We all coped then so why not now?

I was talking to a chef today who said he is really not looking forward to Christmas as it is his first one working and he has to work a 10 hour day so will get literally no time with his family. Do people that eat out ever think of the people waiting on them?