mottled primitive tries to shop on Easter

[franksolich]

http://demopedia.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8087483

Oh my.

matt819  (1000+ posts)        Sun Apr-04-10 06:23 PM
THE MOTTLED PRIMITIVE
Original message

Shopping on Easter

It's bad enough that Christmas is a federal holiday. But Easter isn't. And yet in my community (northern New England), more shops were closed today than not - both locally owned businesses and national. Despite the assertions of the Christian right, we are not a Christian nation. We are a nation with Christians, Jews, Atheists, etc. One business closed was Staples - I made a trip for office supplies. Another was a local garden store chain owned by a Greek Orthodox family; it's not the Greek Orthodox Easter. Another was a very secular local food coop. Sure, some employees might have attended Church, and maybe I should just let this pass; after all, the world did not come to an end because I couldn't buy bird seed or office supplies. But those stores that were open were certainly not empty, so all those "observant" Christians had no problem with their own consumerism.

Maybe I've become a curmudgeon. But it bugged me.

KILL THE WISE ONE  (346 posts)      Sun Apr-04-10 06:28 PM
Response to Original message
 
2. not about you, me or consumerism. it's about the employees

blueamy66  (973 posts)      Sun Apr-04-10 07:23 PM
Response to Reply #2
 
11. Yes, exactly.

Renew Deal  (1000+ posts)        Sun Apr-04-10 06:29 PM
Response to Original message

3. Greek Easter is the same day this year.

And it's not just about the business owners or the workers. Most customers are wrapped up with Easter activities too. Curmudgeon is one way of putting it.

pinto   (1000+ posts)        Sun Apr-04-10 06:30 PM
THE FORD MOTOR COMPANY PRIMITIVE
Response to Original message

4. Eh. Sounds as though the businesses you mention are private, not government.

It's their choice.

And as you say, it wasn't that big a deal. They'll be open tomorrow.

rurallib  (1000+ posts)        Sun Apr-04-10 06:35 PM
Response to Original message
 
5. Huge mall closed about 15 miles from us. 5 years ago it was wide open.

I am a curmudgeon also.

matt819  (1000+ posts)        Sun Apr-04-10 06:51 PM
THE MOTTLED PRIMITIVE
Response to Reply #5

6. Thank you

Another poster stopped short of finding something a little less generous than curmudgeon.

Also, on the curmudgeon subject, it bugs me when posters state the obvious, even if the point is not made in the original post. Of course I know it's about employees. But these same employers have no problem having their employees come in on other holidays. And, yes, I know these are private businesses and can do what they damn well please. I'm just saying that it bugs me. And since I'm a curmudgeon, or worse, I can do that. And the day's not over yet. If my local songbirds perish or of the world does in fact come to an end because I ran out of file dividers, then I will be vindicated.

canoeist52 (486 posts)      Sun Apr-04-10 06:57 PM
Response to Original message
 
7. I don't begrudge families a day off. Wish they bring back the "bluelaws" and close stores on Sunday too!

eleny  (1000+ posts)        Sun Apr-04-10 07:07 PM
Response to Original message
 
8. Our supermarket had about the same # of shoppers as any other day

It was early afternoon when we went shopping and the crowd didn't look thinner than usual.

JI7  (1000+ posts)        Sun Apr-04-10 07:13 PM
Response to Original message
 
9. i think non religious types celebrate Easter also, especially those with little children with the whole easter bunny, easter egg hunt etc.

fishwax  (1000+ posts)        Sun Apr-04-10 07:18 PM
Response to Original message

10. the places I needed to go today were open, but I don't begrudge the stores that close

I don't see anything wrong with giving employees the day off.

[DefiantSix]

matt819  (1000+ posts)        Sun Apr-04-10 06:23 PM
THE MOTTLED PRIMITIVE
Original message

Shopping on Easter

It's bad enough that Christmas is a federal holiday. But Easter isn't. And yet in my community (northern New England), more shops were closed today than not - both locally owned businesses and national. Despite the assertions of the Christian right, we are not a Christian nation. We are a nation with Christians, Jews, Atheists, etc. One business closed was Staples - I made a trip for office supplies. Another was a local garden store chain owned by a Greek Orthodox family; it's not the Greek Orthodox Easter. Another was a very secular local food coop. Sure, some employees might have attended Church, and maybe I should just let this pass; after all, the world did not come to an end because I couldn't buy bird seed or office supplies. But those stores that were open were certainly not empty, so all those "observant" Christians had no problem with their own consumerism...

Could it be, perhaps that these bastions of consumerism can't afford to keep their doors open on Sundays - in this horrible 0-conomy - because of the increased costs to provide insurance for the employees (and the company), the rising costs and diminishing supply of energy, and a dearth of potential customers WITH MONEY (you looking for "office supplies" to roll your next doobie with isn't sufficient incentive for most businesses to keep their doors open)?

Suck it DUmbass.

[NHSparky]

Matt--quit your whining.  The season opener between the Sox and Yankees is tonight, and I'd have to drive 25 miles to find an open bar.  Such is life.

[SSG Snuggle Bunny]

matt819  (1000+ posts)        Sun Apr-04-10 06:23 PM

Original message

Shopping on Easter

It's bad enough that Christmas is a federal holiday. But Easter isn't...blah-blah-blah...

Tell us about Earth hour.

[Celtic Rose]

Geeze, begrudging store employees Easter Sunday off?  How grouchy can a person get? 

[Mike220]

Man, what a whiny little bitch.

[JohnnyReb]

Oh but a strike that shut a business down and forced other businesses to close would be just fine....right DUmmie?

Just wait until Obamacare kicks in and all the healthcare professionals take August off.

[Karin]

Yes, Matt is a whiney little bitch.  But I will say I dislike blue laws very much.  When I lived in Maine they were in full force.  Nothing open on Sunday.  As a working woman, I had to jam in every piece of shopping and errands on Saturdays, and it was exhausting, and took a lot of advance planning.  I did not look forward to Saturdays, I dreaded them.  NY drives me crazy, but at least they don't have blue laws. 

[GOBUCKS]

Yes, Matt is a whiney little bitch.  But I will say I dislike blue laws very much.  When I lived in Maine they were in full force.  Nothing open on Sunday.  As a working woman, I had to jam in every piece of shopping and errands on Saturdays, and it was exhausting, and took a lot of advance planning.  I did not look forward to Saturdays, I dreaded them.  NY drives me crazy, but at least they don't have blue laws. 

When discount stores first appeared, just prior to K-Mart in my memory, we had both blue laws, which were not uniformly enforced, and fair trade laws, which somehow tried to regulate retail pricing. Discount stores ran afoul of both. But since this was the fifties, when government wasn't nearly as intrusive into private enterprise as today, a strong challenge to blue laws and fair trade laws easily succeeded. Local discount stores were wildly successful, and were very soon supplanted by the vastly superior national franchises like, most notably, K-Mart. At least, that's my memory.