I am old enough that I can remember the days when stores and other businesses were closed on Sunday. It was a quiet day, a day of rest. I miss those days. Now people dont get a break anymore. Its rush, rush every day. I wonder if Sunday shopping was such a great idea. What do you think?
Sunday Shopping
- Thread starter Rusty Blade
- Start date
I grew up in the 50s & 60s. I remember "Blue Laws". Bergen County, NJ may even still have them. Religion and family gatherings afterward on Sunday were more important back then. Jobs were usually set hours 5 days a week, and the pace and pressure less. I'm glad to be retired and not raising a family these days. With stores struggling and closing, I have no problem with stores opening on Sunday. A better solution today would be no wifi or internet service on Sunday, forcing families to reconnect.
Ron R
I survived a lathey foreman
Big Business will never allow Sundays to be closed IMO. I also remember those days when Sundays where closed and a few essential stores had to stay open like 1 drug store and a few gas stations in a city of 23,000 people.
It was more a time for family of going to church and not doing much either other than a few neighbour social gatherings. I will not see those Sunday closings in my life time because our Country has changed so much in the last 40 years with all these different Immigrant nationalities religious beliefs that are part of the our country makeup now. Oh how times have changed.
It was more a time for family of going to church and not doing much either other than a few neighbour social gatherings. I will not see those Sunday closings in my life time because our Country has changed so much in the last 40 years with all these different Immigrant nationalities religious beliefs that are part of the our country makeup now. Oh how times have changed.
I grew up in the '80s. My family and I would go to mass on Sunday morning. My mother would do odds and ends around the house and my father would usually spend the rest of the day cooking, watching football, and drinking cold Coors Banquet, Olympia, Löwenbräu, etc. Mom did her shopping, and I would help dad with the yardwork on Saturdays. The '80s were a cool time to be a kid. I'm grateful.
I remember that. It was good for society to have a day of rest even without the religious aspect.
But now with online shopping we'll never be able to go back.
But now with online shopping we'll never be able to go back.
My county didn't have blue laws, but the neighboring ones did. I hated visiting them on Sundays.
It is really nice to see I am not alone in missing those days. I was recently discussing this with my brother. I believe it is one more step towards making it hard to keep families together. Let me explain. Monday through Saturday people rush, work, and accomplish what is needed to put food on the table to ensure the kids have the necessities, and perhaps even a bit beyond the necessities. It used to be that Sunday was family day, whether you went to church or just stayed home as a family. Now young husbands and wives that are just starting out are often working odd hours, sometimes different shifts. How do you keep a strong marriage when their is little time together? That was the benefit of having Sundays with the stores closed. Families need time together, even if it is only one day a week. But then people will call me old fashioned, even though I am only in my 50s.
From where I come from, Shops were generally closed Sundays. Saturday, they closed about noon or 1 pm, or stayed open til 4 pm on the first Saturday of the month (Langer Samstag as we say in German). So most of the shopping was done during the week. Coming over here, it was a bit of a change for me to go shopping any day of the week and pretty much at any time. In Germany the stores normally closed at 7 pm during the week. The weekend was family time, yardwork etc.
I refuse to go grocery shopping here on a Sunday, but mainly as it seems to me that here everyone is doing their weekly shopping on Sundays - not me.
I refuse to go grocery shopping here on a Sunday, but mainly as it seems to me that here everyone is doing their weekly shopping on Sundays - not me.
I hate rushing around after work trying to get things done, so I love being able to shop at my own pace on weekends.
Having lived overseas in different countries, I appreciate 24/7 shopping stateside. Nobody I know really enjoys spending an entire day with their family every week. Family visits are rarely relaxing for anyone, especially when they take place every week. The visits become just another chore or thing that needs doing; kinda like yard work. I prefer to leverage technology to stay in touch, so I can end the chat once we’ve covered all the bases. Less clean up too.
EclipseRedRing
I smell like a Christmas pudding
I grew up with shops closed on Sundays and also half day closing on Wednesdays. There was no 24 hour shopping. Sundays were always family times with a traditional Sunday mid afternoon lunch eaten, like all meals, in the dining room.
My wife and I fell into the trap of making Sunday just like any other day but have now reverted back, and now keep Sundays for Church and family time. With 24 hour online shopping it hardly seems necessary to shop on Sundays and we are trying to reduce our consumerism anyway.
Perhaps the issue is to do with many families needing two or more jobs, plus overtime, to pay a mortgage, which leaves only the weekend for housework and shopping etc. When I bought my home I could pay the mortgage with only my basic salary, 40 hours Monday to Friday. These days I could not afford a starter home in my city. Something has changed, and not for the better.
My wife and I fell into the trap of making Sunday just like any other day but have now reverted back, and now keep Sundays for Church and family time. With 24 hour online shopping it hardly seems necessary to shop on Sundays and we are trying to reduce our consumerism anyway.
Perhaps the issue is to do with many families needing two or more jobs, plus overtime, to pay a mortgage, which leaves only the weekend for housework and shopping etc. When I bought my home I could pay the mortgage with only my basic salary, 40 hours Monday to Friday. These days I could not afford a starter home in my city. Something has changed, and not for the better.
Sunday shopping aside, with all due respect for personal opinion, I must say that family get-togethers are some of the most enjoyable times in my life.
EclipseRedRing
I smell like a Christmas pudding
Agreed, family time is more important to me now than ever, the last few years have taught me that if nothing else. But by family I mean my wife and child only as my parents are deceased. I argued with my brother and sisters and now have not seen them or spoken with them in 30 years and no longer care to; one day it will be too late.Sunday shopping aside, with all due respect for personal opinion, I must say that family get-togethers are some of the most enjoyable times in my life.
I still live in one of those towns (Tifton, GA). The only thing open downtown on Sundays are a couple of restaurants. We still have a Western Auto, the Tift theatre, mom and pop clothing stores and dress shops, locally owned drugstore, a jeweler and quite a few antique stores there. The Wal Marts, CVS, etc. are not allowed to come downtown because of the Historic District. They had to go miles down the road.
I moved here to go to college after growing up in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale. Talk about culture shock. That was 30 years ago and back then, EVERYTHING but bars or restaurants closed at 6 and many businesses closed early on Wednesday for church.
I moved here to go to college after growing up in Miami/Ft. Lauderdale. Talk about culture shock. That was 30 years ago and back then, EVERYTHING but bars or restaurants closed at 6 and many businesses closed early on Wednesday for church.
In the town of Tifton, Georgia
On a hot and dusty day
You could see the heat coming off the ground...
--- Tony Joe White
I also enjoy infrequent family gatherings, but weekly meet ups is way too much for me. I can only take so much small town gossip and small minded political discussions which is where their conversations usually go. Anybody else who was raised in Appalachia, left for a career and returned knows my pain.
rbscebu
Girls call me Makaluod
With all these posts about Sunday trading, it makes me wonder about people having self control in the way they organise their lives.
If you want to keep Sundays for a special purpose, just do it!
If you want to keep Sundays for a special purpose, just do it!
Families.... a note: families are not created equal. We enjoy the company of our two sons and their wives. I didn't enjoy the family into which I was born. "That" family was something I had to overcome.
As far as Sunday shopping. I'm old enough (and lived in smaller towns in Montana and Wyoming growing up) to remember when only one drug store and one gas station were open on Sundays.
We moved to PA in 1976 from Montana. I enjoyed the fact you could get groceries 24/7 with the exception of Christmas Day.. and some early closings around other holidays.
We moved to Florida in 2004. There was only one 24 hour grocery store, around 20 minutes from us. The liquor stores were all closed on Sunday and the wine and beer sales at grocery stores were unavailable until 1PM. Neither of those were a bid deal to us. I only have the occasional margarita and my wife drinks the a glass of wine with dinner fairly often. But it was a noticeable difference. I do remember our first Easter here. I went out to get something for lunch at the grocery store.... closed... tried another one close by.. also closed.... and the restaurants were closed as well. After living in PA for close to 30 years, that one caught me off-guard.
As far as Sunday shopping. I'm old enough (and lived in smaller towns in Montana and Wyoming growing up) to remember when only one drug store and one gas station were open on Sundays.
We moved to PA in 1976 from Montana. I enjoyed the fact you could get groceries 24/7 with the exception of Christmas Day.. and some early closings around other holidays.
We moved to Florida in 2004. There was only one 24 hour grocery store, around 20 minutes from us. The liquor stores were all closed on Sunday and the wine and beer sales at grocery stores were unavailable until 1PM. Neither of those were a bid deal to us. I only have the occasional margarita and my wife drinks the a glass of wine with dinner fairly often. But it was a noticeable difference. I do remember our first Easter here. I went out to get something for lunch at the grocery store.... closed... tried another one close by.. also closed.... and the restaurants were closed as well. After living in PA for close to 30 years, that one caught me off-guard.
I am old enough to remember the shops, and in certain areas, pubs closed on a Sunday here in the UK. So different these days as the world is so much busier. I think it is one of the best days for shops actually, when people are not working shopping is usually high on the list of things to do.
I remember days of no sales on Sunday.
