Sunday Shopping?

[fakename]

It seems strange that abstaining from work also means “not shopping”. This is because some shopping is so fun (shopping for entertainment etc.). How can this be work?

Just a question and thanks for any replies.

 

[Julianna]

As a cradle Catholic, since my baptism in '58, I have never heard of that. Now my southern relatives (consisting of Baptist and Pentacostal), don’t do anything on Sunday except attend church twice (once in the morning and again in the evening). In between they have Sunday fried chicken dinner and that’s about it for the day. Even when the blue laws were repealed and you could shop on Sunday from 12 to 6, they didn’t. In SC you couldn’t buy alcohol on Sunday…now you can. Well that doesn’t make any difference to them because they don’t allow drinking. (Catholics can belly up to the bar anytime )

I do know that the Baptist and Pentacostal side of the family still observe Sunday as a day of rest…so no shopping.

Growing up in MA, we went to Mass on Sunday, then to my dad’s side of the family for an Italian dinner. The men drank beer and watched football, the kids played in the yard and the ladies sat in another room drank wine and talked.

I guess Sunday’s are different in each family. I shop on Sundays…and my Irish DH has purchased alcohol on Sunday and we have been to sports bars on Sunday or out to dinner.

 

[Edmundus1581]

Just a comment on this from personal experience.

When I was a child and teenager (though to the mid-1970’s) the law required shops (apart from essential services) to close at 12:30 PM on Saturdays. I can still recall the feeling of peace and calm that descended on our city at 12:30 PM, and how that calm lasted through Sunday. I am sure that that was very, very good for everybody.

Without shopping, people are faced with boredom, or doing something else, such as: attend Church, take the family on a picnic, read a book, write a letter…

That weekly cycle of calm has been lost, and is palpable for those of us who can recall it.

 

[nina13_p]

I think the thing is keeping the Sabbath holy. I grew up with blue laws and as a Southern Baptist, and now as a Catholic, I still don’t shop on Sundays.

Father Corapi has a great discussion of this Commandment in his Catechism series on the Ten Commandments… its a great explanation of keeping the Sabbath day holy.

Anyone here familiar wth Truett Cathy and the Chik-Fil-A success story? Although he is not a catholic, he is a devout Christian and he has never allowed any of his restaurants to be open on Sunday. He knows he could absolutely make alot of money selling his awesome biscuits on Sunday mornings. But, he knows there is something greater here than the almighty dollar!

 

[Tietjen]

It seems strange that abstaining from work also means “not shopping”. This is because some shopping is so fun (shopping for entertainment etc.). How can this be work?

Just a question and thanks for any replies.

Well… perhaps you aren’t working if you shop on Sunday, but because you chose to do so, others are required to work (store clerks, store managers, restaurant workers, etc.). So, I suppose it’s all in how you view it.

 

[nickybr38]

Well… perhaps you aren’t working if you shop on Sunday, but because you chose to do so, others are required to work (store clerks, store managers, restaurant workers, etc.). So, I suppose it’s all in how you view it.

This is what I was going to say. Being an accessory to something is pretty much the same as doing it yourself.

 

[catsrus]

That weekly cycle of calm has been lost, and is palpable for those of us who can recall it.

This is an excellent thought! I grew up in the '50s here in PA where the Blue Laws were in effect. After church, we had our everyone - sitting - down- together -Sunday -dinner. Afterwards, we’d go visiting or be visited and, occasionally for a Sunday drive or a picnic. ALL as a family.
That is so lost to people now.

P.S. As one of those department store workers who must work on Sundays, I very much resent those who think they have to shop on a Sunday. As long as they shop, the stores will always be open. I guess that’s the new Sunday “togetherness” .

 

[Edmundus1581]

This is an excellent thought! I grew up in the '50s here in PA where the Blue Laws were in effect. After church, we had our everyone - sitting - down- together -Sunday -dinner. Afterwards, we’d go visiting or be visited and, occasionally for a Sunday drive or a picnic. ALL as a family.
That is so lost to people now.

P.S. As one of those department store workers who must work on Sundays, I very much resent those who think they have to shop on a Sunday. As long as they shop, the stores will always be open. I guess that’s the new Sunday “togetherness” .

Thanks!

Yes, those Sundays were good times! As Joni Mitchell sang, “You never know what you’ve got till it’s gone”.

The push for extended shopping hours has only come from big businesses. The smaller shops want to close on Sunday’s, but now have to open because they’ll lose business (although the Chik-Fil-A example from a previous post is inspiring!). If nobody shopped on Sundays, those shops would get the message, and be closed in three weekends.

I have made it a practice, all my life, of never shopping on Sundays, and it has worked fine for me. I try to avoid even little things, like bread and milk, but once in a while slip up, and have to get those.