Sunday: Day of rest or shoppers delight?

Mosh

I am going to nitpick here - please take my comments as they're intended i.e. an opposing viewpoint, and not as a personal dig!

popsie wrote:

Sunday should be a day for families, not for shopping. Even God rested on the 7th day, and we need to do this, to catch up with ourselves.

Each to their own. I'm utterly agnostic so the "god" thing holds no water with me. My nearest family is 300 miles away (in either of two directions) so I'm not going to spend Sunday popping round to see the folks either.

popsie wrote:

They are only in the interest of large companies, not in our interests really

Maybe not in yours, but certainly in mine. I am often away all week with work, then off to the footie on Saturday. I don't get back until too late to do my shopping (courtesy of the Sunday trading, another side-effect is a relatively early close on a Saturday night). Hence, Sunday is my preferred (sometimes only) shopping day. I'm often not even home till later that evening in which case I'm utterly stuffed. Usually on an expensive unhealthy Big Mac or something as I can't buy food to make my own dinner.

I live in Bradford, which has a very large population who also don't follow the christian teachings. Why should they be restricted socially because of a belief system that's not theirs?

popsie wrote:

OK I agree it's good to be able to buy milk on Sunday if you run out, but if you had a day to catch up with everything once a week, you might be organised enough not to run out.

Have you never been away so long that when you get back milk has gone out of date? No matter how well organised I am, I can't come back from London midweek to pick up some milk and drop it in the fridge, before heading back "darn sarf" now safe in the knowledge I'll be able to have a bowl of cereal when I get in.

I have a day to get organised and catch up with things. It's Sunday. I'm just being messed about as to when on a Sunday I can do things, and it takes me twice as long because of the massive queues due to everyone in the local area trying to do it in the same paltry 6-hour timeframe.

popsie wrote:

Nowadays, with home shopping being delivered, there's really no excuse.

Home delivery involves:

1) being home when they deliver
2) paying an additional charge (I live alone to *very* rarely, if ever, spend enough to qualify for any discount)
3) not being able to see what you're buying

And as far as I'm aware, not a single place delivers on a Sunday.

popsie wrote:

If you work all week like I do, the last thing you want to do on Sunday is go shopping

How can you claim that? YOU perhaps find that the last thing you want to do on a Sunday is go shopping. I, however, often find it's the first thing I want to do. Preferably at around 8am when I know it'll be quiet and I'll get first dibs on the fresh stuff... but oh, no I can't because someone else has decided that I'm to be forced to try and follow their belief system.

popsie wrote:

We all shop too much anyhow.

Again, speak for yourself. I buy just as much as I need. I actually DO buy too much on occasion in that what I get goes to waste because I have to buy it before I need it (by a few days) as I know I won't make the shops on Sunday... so I have to bin it and buy more. Using that example, silly opening hours are beneficial to the large companies and not to us. Which is as sensible as the argument you put forward earlier on.

Like I said in a previous post - this is a personal bugbear of mine. Again Popsie - please take this as reasoned (if potentially heated!) debate, and not a personal vendetta!

If you want to keep your Sunday for family time then that's great. Do that. Enjoy it. Make the most and plan round it. But kindly respect that other people don't want to and allow them the freedom to CHOOSE. If the shops did open all day Sunday and nobody went then the companies would lose out, you'd be happy about being right and the world will be a better place

Iain

Kantankrus_Mare

I can see both sides of the argument but believe if shops WERE to open all day sunday then staff shouldnt be forced to work them every week.

It should be done on some sort of rota basis.

Extra pay would be nice but i can see it becoming like catering (i work sundays for no extra pay)

Even if shopping HAS to be done on a sunday it could be done first thing for those wanting a family day as well and then you have rest of day to spend as you wish.

nearlyrich

I would like the choice to shop 24/7 because sometimes I can think of better things to do on a Saturday than grocery shopping. We came home from holiday on Sunday afternoon, landed just too late to catch the supermarket so I was a bit miffed.

We only have a poor Asda nearby and it was too much stress to drive 20 miles to a decent store on Monday so I'm going to be cheesed off all week.

Fortunately we are getting a new 24 hour Tesco in less than 2 weeks ( Might sort the Asda out)

superhoop

Mosh - good points well made.

I respect people's religious convictions over Sundays.

But all these other people who want to spend more time with their families and think we do enough shopping already - do they all stay at home or do they:

- Go to McDonald?

- Go to the zoo?

- Go to Legoland?

- Go to Ikea?

- Go to a country pub for lunch?

etc etc?

And do they think these places are staffed by Ooompa - Looompas who do it for the love of it?

Of course not - They're people just like you and me - Students after a bit of extra cash, mums struggling to make ends meet. They might just benefit from the extra cash extended opening hours would provide.

So - there's a whiff of hypocrisy about all of this.

Before you cast judgement on something that might spoil your 'weekend idyll', think again when you jump in the car for that Sunday family day out.

Steve

lowsonig

Funny how things go in cycles isn't it. Decades ago those who worked in the "service" industries, as they are termed now, were lucky to get time off. In fact everyone used to work long hours. In time that changed. Shops and public houses were restricted in the hours that they could trade. Factories generally worked long hours as well. Factories quite often operate 24 hours a day everyday. All that the service industries want to do is emulate that. All it'll mean is new contracts for those that are prepared to work shifts. When I worked in a supermarket people were actually working in the store for most of the day anyway doing their job whether the tills were ringing or not. The only difference I can see is that the tills will be open and people will be allowed to shop.
I for one remember people demanding shops be open on a Sunday and also the outcry that they remain closed. Over the years that I have been in work people have demanded more and more of the service industry which is more then happy to oblige! If you don't want to work a Sunday don't let them make you. I worked in a supermarket during further and higher education (Where were you then Martin? I could've saved a fortune!) when I needed the beer tokens (money). Since then I have NEVER worked a weekend.

sparkymark_3

What some people still do not seem to get is if stores are allowed to open as many hours as they like on Sundays then as it becomes more of a "normal day " then the more support people will be expected to work/ longer hours e.g. bus/train services and the end of the day there is still only 1 pot of money for wages etc. which will be spread thinner. If people in some places are finding it too busy they should try a Tesco at 10 pm at night - empty shelves and checkout q`s worse than a Saturday!

gravitytolls

Ooh, please shut 'em. I'm all for shops being open late, even 24 hours, so everybody can shop, but please, not Sundays.

When I was akid everything was closed, barring newsagents, churches and pubs, and it was boring.

Now everything's open...it's still boring, but there's pressure to shop.

Surely we can find more in our lives than blooming shopping?

gravitytolls

Incidentally, I was impressed that our local Morrisons closed for 3 days, yes 3 days over last Christmas.

V good Morrisons, well done.

BWZN93

asot wrote:

I'm against it. There's no need to have shops open longer on a Sunday. I think it's nice to have one day of the week where it's more relaxed. People need to find something to do other than shopping!

But people still need a pint of milk, or run out of nappies or something! Our local 24 hour shop is exorbitantly priced - and as I work a LOT I dont get time to do a big shop any other day of the week. Trading should be extended to increase choice to the consumer, and increase convenience for those who dont work conventional monday to friday jobs.

And anyway - who wants to fight that mad saturday morning scramble round sainsburys - id be happier going sunday at 8pm, when parents and kids are getting ready for work/school the next day so I can have some peace and quiet to peruse the fine choice on offer...

Jo xx

trace-j

Although it would certainly be convienent, ask the poor souls on a pants wage being made to work these extended hours. In the log term there could be increase in staff turnover and a decrease in customer service as a result trying train all the new staff.

There is too much 'I can therefore I want' in this country with not enough consideration being given to the effect all this want will have on other people.