PaulT Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 I notice that most of the DIY chains are open this Monday, a pubic holiday! Have they now realised that there ias money to be made from people carrying out DIY during a holiday who until now have been frustrated to find they need something but nowhere to get it.Whatever next, opening on a Sunday....no, that is taking it too far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 One big difference between the Vendee and the P de C is that here the big sheds such as Leroi Merlin are open all day on Sunday and most public holidays, though Ascencion was an exception.Such a refreshing from the buttoned up Vendee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Department71 Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 We got a surprise on our last trip this year, Brico Depot used to close lunch time in our nearest big town, it is now open all day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NormanH Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 What a pity to see this Anglo Saxon slavery creeping in here.One of the best things about French life is the respect for a Family Sunday letting shop workers have a day off instead of being at the mercy of materialism. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NickP Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 [quote user="NormanH"]What a pity to see this Anglo Saxon slavery creeping in here.One of the best things about French life is the respect for a Family Sunday letting shop workers have a day off instead of being at the mercy of materialism.[/quote]Sunday opening increases employment, nobody works 7 days a week. Let them open when they're needed. After all; working people find it difficult to shop in a rush when they finish work at the end of the day, so it's good to have a Sunday when you can browse and choose at your leisure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted May 14, 2016 Author Share Posted May 14, 2016 [quote user="NormanH"]What a pity to see this Anglo Saxon slavery creeping in here.One of the best things about French life is the respect for a Family Sunday letting shop workers have a day off instead of being at the mercy of materialism.[/quote]Norman, do you use electricity on a Sunday- thepower workers are working. Do you watch TV or listen to the radio on a Sunday = the media people are working. Do you buy a newspaper on a Sunday/Monday - the print workers are working on a Sunday. Have you ever needed medical treatment on a Sunday - the hospital workers are working on a Sunday. Ever travelled on a Sunday - the transport workers are working. Possibly have a house fire or subject to crime - the fire department and police are working on a Sunday.Why are shop workers different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbie Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 When I was a young man we had electricity on Sundays, we had radio, we had Sunday papers and papers on Mondays There was medical care available. There was a bus service and a limited train service. There was a fire service and police. A few pubs were open and some small shops were too. Did we suffer as a result. No we didn't. Is it convenient to have shops open on Sundays? Certainly but not essential Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted May 14, 2016 Share Posted May 14, 2016 Having worked in retail and knowing a few people who do, they're no different to the rest of us. They work a five day week, just different days. Nobody works every weekend, or indeed consecutive weekends. Many infinitely prefer being able to do their own shopping and other chores midweek, when it's nice and quiet, as opposed to having to schlep to the shops on a Saturday (or Sunday) with all the other poor souls who work Monday to Friday. 7-day shop opening is not the end of civilisation as we know it, simply a logical response to the working patterns of the rest of society.I'm sure many people remember way back when the banks suddenly decided to stop working weekends. Yet now, there's even one bank in the UK (well, part of the U.K. anyway) which is open every day except Christmas Day. It's great to be able to actually visit a branch on Sunday and carry out transactions such as depositing cash without the worry of having to post it into a hole, or carry larger sums around till a bank opens. I can't see what's wrong with shops being open at a time when the majority of the rest of the population are actually free to use them. That's actually more like common sense than being at the mercy of materialism. Perhaps if France responded a little more as though it's shops were there for the convenience of customers, rather than as if they were doing customers a favour by being open at all, it might go some way to alleviate a few of its employment and other economic problems? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rabbie Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 I have no problems with Sunday opening provided that there is no compulsion on people to work on these days. A lot of pressure can be put on employees to work on Sunday's which can have a bad effect on family life. Many people doing these lower paid jobs have no choice but to take what is available regardless of their circumstances. In the final analysis it comes down to customer convenience rather than necessity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 Well, of course you have to compel people to work on the days a business is open. It's like saying that you have no objection to airlines operating as long as they only fly Monday to Saturday, or any other service industry for that matter. How would you react to not being able to stay in a hotel over the weekend?Someone is going to have to be there to work, so you're not going to be able to give everyone the choice not to.I well remember businesses I've worked in over the years having to compel a certain number of people to work between Christmas and New Year, for example. Many people don't want to do it, but someone has to. My uncle, a widower when his two sons were still at primary school, and long before childcare was as well organised as it is today, was head of photographic processing at The Guardian. He worked shifts, because they also produced the Manchester Evening News. His job entailed not only alternate weeks of days and nights, but I recall many Christmases where he left the dining table to go to work on Christmas Day because there were newspapers on Boxing Day. Pre-Internet and rolling news channels, people still wanted their news on the doorstep, and it didn't matter about the family lives of the people producing it.People in retail aren't an isolated, put-upon subgroup who are suffering more than the rest of us.This very morning, our bathroom washbasin tap has begun leaking. Luckily, we can go to a DIY shed for parts to fix it. Otherwise, it would have to wait till tomorrow. And then it wouldn't get done immediately unless Mr Betty took the day off his own work to fix it once he'd been to get the parts. That's not materialism, it's practicality.Who said "six days shalt thou labour" etc? Oh yes, God. Well, in our present society, he's become a bit short on followers. And in any case, most people only work five days, and I don't think the Bible specified which day (or days) you had to have off. And if it did, it must have been open to interpretation, or else Muslims and Jews didn't get the same memo, 'cos they appear to have chosen a different day altogether.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted May 15, 2016 Share Posted May 15, 2016 Isn't it a bit like being a NIMBY not wanting work weekends or nights. All of my family has and does, and that includes me! Sure that if hospitals all shut apart from 8-5 or in France 8-12 then 2-7 Monday to Friday, and that should also include Police and ambulances and come to think Fire services too sure those who 'believe' in don' t touch my Sundays would be screaming blue murder. I am in France at the moment, ages since I have driven over, dead Sundays you can keep, not for me. Hope, in spite of it being ferie tomorrow, things are a little livelier. When I fly I am taxied by my belle fille so not the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Sundays in France are special. Even though some shops are open most people I know prefer to enjoy Sunday with their family. Something that the UK has lostSo please keep Sunday shopping for the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 What most people prefer to do is their business; had you visited a garden centre or Leroi Merlin on Sunday, you would have found them heaving with people, strangely, in families.Church and family, what a stifling mix of conformity and heavy boredom, appropriate only to those who do not know better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Well, marrying into a catholic family I can see both sides and remember France is a Catholic country. Garden centres have always been open on a Sunday. Our Leroy is not open thankfully. If you want France to become like the UK then fine or just live in the UK. I personally like the tranquility of Sundays....and I am not religious. I like to see people going to Church and buying a cake for their family meal. It is nice. I also like the peace in the morning, especially in Paris. You know it is Sunday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Your "like" is in fact selfish, if you think about it because you are imposing your will on others. Why not let people have the choice? (Not a FRench habit, I notice).Nobody is forcing you to go shopping or anything else on a Sunday.I would remind you that France is NOT Catholic, but laique. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 I am not imposing anything on anyone ?? I don't make the rules up. I am happy to admit I like the tranquility of Sundays. Peace and quiet.Woolybanna says "Nobody is forcing you to go shopping or anything else on a Sunday". No, but I will hear the noise and the traffic it creates. So I have a say.Why are people 'for' Sunday shopping so loud about the issue. You have 6 other days to do your stuff. Coool. Quality of life and all that.Keep Sundays as Sundays. Once it has gone you will never get it back. Just like the UK....it has gone ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woolybanana Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Well, I resent the overhang of the superstitious who still have power in any country, particularly as they attempt to impose themselves on others.I remember the days of the Lord's Day Observance Society in UK, who even managed to stop Sunday TV at one point in the early evening so people could go to church. How shameful.By the way, traffic in this part of France is bad on Sundays because people are going to garden centres, the beach, restaurants, football matches. What hypocrites. Perhaps the reiigious would like us to be condemned to life on a Sunday in the Orkneys (is it) where nothing at all happens on a Sunday except a visit or two or three to the Kirk (oh, and maybe a quick few bevvies in the local pub, by going in the back door, of course.)Religion in France is a dying beast, thank the Great Bobo so let us not allow a tiny, sad minority dictate to the vast majority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 Woolybanna said "Religion in France is a dying beast, thank the Great Bobo so let us not allow a tiny, sad minority dictate to the vast majority"Are you sure about that ? Methinks not !!!! Might not be Catholicism but religion is certainly not dying. Why do the British living in France have such a problem with religion ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted May 17, 2016 Author Share Posted May 17, 2016 See my previous post.....you do not use electricity, watch or listen to radio and TV, travel, visit restaurants or entertainment centres, expect police, fire and medical personnel to be available +++++++++ if you do perhaps you are selfish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 As I said, those who think it 'special' would be screaming blue murder if the hospitals, fire service or police were unavailable on a Sunday, even priests work! Worse than a case of double standards. And French family values......really......who actually believes that codswallop........sheer nonsense ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted May 17, 2016 Share Posted May 17, 2016 In the 1950's and early 60's people went to church on Sunday because there was nothing else to do. To my knowledge, many places in France, including quite a few places in Paris, have markets on Sunday morning. So I assume it's OK for market traders to get up at sparrows on a Sunday and ply their trade, and perfectly OK for the good burghers of any town with a market to bow to the weight of materialism, but not for an actual shop building with a roof and that. What tosh.I have a problem with religion. I don't live in France. Just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 It is a lame argument to think that because emergency services and other service providers work Sundays then ALL shops should open. These people work 24/7 rotas. Should Darty therefore be allowed to open at 3 AM in the morning ?Anyway, a lot of shops already open in the morning on Sunday for most essential needs. Just because you can't buy a carpet does not mean France is in the dark ages. You still have internet if you are a compulsive shopper and have to spend money. Shops that do open tend not be as busy as Saturdays so there is no real demand. Furthermore, large shops opening on a Sunday is a killer for small businesses.I still don't get the 'British' need for all shops to open in France on a Sunday. It is like the British move to France and want everything to be like it is in the UK. Why ??? Do you really want France to be like the UK ?Whether you are religious or not it nice to keep Sunday as Sunday. Sunday is a nice day in France. In the UK Sunday is another Saturday.Chill ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Well, I, for one, don't have a "British need" for French shops to open on a Sunday. And they won't do it unless it makes economic sense for them to do so. Let's face it, France is a country where shops CLOSE for several weeks in peak season so the shopkeepers can go on holiday. I totally get that the shopkeepers of small independent shops are just as entitle to work-life balance as the rest of the population, , but what is completely and totally batshit crazy is the fact that the employment and taxation/cotisations laws in France preclude them from drafting in someone to keep their business running (and making sorely needed profits ) during such periods.Like it or loathe it, you can't deny that shutting a business in holiday season is daft, because however much you might decry tourists from other countries, they come on holiday to spend money, entre autres, and they can't spend money in your shop if you're closed for four weeks. And it doesn't endear you toregular customers either. Worse still, you're losing money when it's there to be made, whereas you're open in Octber when both your regular customers are around to swell your coffers by €20 a week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alittlebitfrench Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Betty wrote "Like it or loathe it, you can't deny that shutting a business in holiday season is daft"It is not daft if your main customer base is sat on the same beach as you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YCCMB Posted May 18, 2016 Share Posted May 18, 2016 Well, it's pretty daft if your shop IS at the beach......or very near to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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