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Post by traveler63 on Jul 23, 2009 13:14:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jul 23, 2009 13:53:41 GMT
Don't look for any logic in such a law if you visit in the future, because the Lyon metropolitan area was excluded from the law, and the Alsace-Moselle region is excluded automatically by existing laws of German origin, so no Sunday shopping in Strasbourg, Metz, Mulhouse, etc., either.
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Post by hwinpp on Jul 29, 2009 10:11:59 GMT
Yeah, the Germans still have a lot to learn. You can't imagine the discussions before they allowed shops to open longer than 18:00h during the week, or opening Saturday afternoons...
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Post by lagatta on Jul 29, 2009 12:10:11 GMT
I had to schlepp a heavy PONS Großwörterbuch - Deutsch als Fremdsprach around all weekend when in Germany since no shops were open on a Sunday even in the tourist centre of a city. I do NOT like the US idea of having shops open 24 hours a day, but the German approach assumes that women are still housewives, able to do the family shopping during the daytime.
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Post by imec on Jul 29, 2009 12:20:24 GMT
I do NOT like the US idea of having shops open 24 hours a day, Why not lagatta? |
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Post by lagatta on Jul 29, 2009 12:44:06 GMT
Because many studies have shown that night work is harmful to human health - emergency workers and others who have to work nights can be compensated with shorter hours and more holidays, but that ain't going to happen in low-paid service sectors.
Moreover, I don't like the idea of a society that revolves around commerce - I think a balance has to be struck.
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Post by imec on Jul 29, 2009 12:55:40 GMT
I take a more selfish view. With work and other commitments I don't have as much spare time as I'd like. The option of shopping whenever I want helps me maximize the use of my time.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jul 29, 2009 16:27:22 GMT
LaGatta, many people like working at night. I've done night work before and loved that I could get my regular business and shopping done during the day.
Also, I'd like to know the logic of such places as post offices or specialty shops which open at the precise time that most people go to day jobs, and close at the precise time those potential customers are leaving work.
So many people have to scramble to get chores done during their lunch hour that they frequently don't have time to eat lunch.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2009 18:24:18 GMT
Night work and grocery shopping at 3 a.m. are not the same in my book. I am not against a few emergency commerces being open 24 hours, but I too am against the generalization of it.
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Post by imec on Jul 29, 2009 19:02:20 GMT
So should the decision be left to the buyer and seller as to when they want to do business or should the government determine when they are and aren't allowed to?
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Post by Deleted on Jul 29, 2009 20:09:39 GMT
So should the decision be left to the buyer and seller as to when they want to do business or should the government determine when they are and aren't allowed to? That is one way of looking at things. In France, they try to protect people from doing unhealthy work, whether they want to or not. The 'Sunday rest' rule has a lot less to do with religion than making sure that families are able to spend a day together, and that is the main debate at the moment. Obviously, if people are allowed to work any day and any hour, the whole system of family values crumbles like it did in the U.S. where familes don't even have meals at the same time anymore. |
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Post by imec on Jul 29, 2009 20:21:27 GMT
I know what your saying - and it's precisely for that reason that I want to be able to shop on any day at any hour. I don't like having to use prime time to do a job which could be done at a time more convenient for me - allowing me more family time etc. BTW, the business hours in France drove me up the wall - it seemed many "businesses" were closed far more than they were open.
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Post by lagatta on Jul 29, 2009 20:36:29 GMT
Ha, that is nothing to Italy! Though perhaps in Southern France it might be a bit similar? In Italy businesses take a VERY long break for the midday meal and siesta. Some don't bother opening again afterwards.
The worst day is the 15th of August - Ferragosto - already practically everything is closed in August, and the rest of the things shut down that day. Certainly no university cafeterias open, and very few restaurants.
France has extremely strict rules for the hours truck/lorry drivers can be on the job without a break, and even 20 years ago there were electronic devices to prevent drivers from exceeding these. There was a reason, of course: a lot of accidents.
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Post by bazfaz on Jul 29, 2009 21:23:46 GMT
If people want to shop at night, why shouldn't they? If nobody wants to, the shops won't open. Who are these do-gooders who say what others should do?
If I want to work at night I do. No government can stop me.
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Post by bazfaz on Jul 29, 2009 21:30:50 GMT
Interestigly in St Pons, a town of about 800 people, there is a small supermarket, locally owned. Three years ago the Prefect (based in Montpellier which is 2 hours'drive away and who is elected by nobody) decreed that it had to close on Sunday morning. Two years ago he changed his mind and decided the little supermarket could open on Sunday mornings - but only for July and August.
Truly these people who tell us what we should do (of course it is for society's good and they know best) are little Hitlers.
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Post by bjd on Jul 30, 2009 9:18:04 GMT
There is a small supermarket not far from my place (in the city). The day they earn the most money is on Sunday morning (it's not open in the afternoon). My son's girlfriend worked there as a cashier while she was a student. Most of the other part-time employees were also students.
Last year, work inspectors came and fined the owner 150€ for every employee in there on a Sunday morning. They then said he could stay open if he reduced the size of the store, by closing some of it off. The owner said that if he couldn't open on Sunday morning, he would close completely because what he earned the rest of the week wasn't worth keeping the place open.
Most of the customers said they were opposed to Sunday openings, but then the cashiers put up a petition, explaining that working there on weekends helped them pay for their studies. Suddenly, people began to understand a different point of view and signed the petition.
Now, of course, it seems that he might be able to stay open.
This said, I really don't think it's necessary to go shopping at 3 am. As for clothing shops and such, I figure people have a limited amount of money to spend -- if they buy stuff on Sundays, they won't be buying on other days.
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