Is Nothing Sacred?

[Petrushka]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/christmas/9726285/Marks-and-Spencer-to-open-at-midnight-on-Christmas-Eve-for-first-time.html

Even Scrooge didn't keep Bob Cratchit in this late.

[Lateralthinking1]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/topics/ch...irst-time.html

Even Scrooge didn't keep Bob Cratchit in this late.

Women - and men - being required to travel alone on public transport with drunks at 11pm on Sunday 23 December to begin work at midnight. I don't find that at all acceptable. It is different if you are required to do so ordinarily as a part of your working role.

[Petrushka]

It's the ever-expanding commercialisation of Christmas that gets me as well as the impact on staff and their families. I'm sure no-one will be forced to do this against their will and they will doubtless be paid well for doing it but why aren't normal hours sufficient for people to do their shopping these days?

[Serial_Apologist]

It's the ever-expanding commercialisation of Christmas that gets me as well as the impact on staff and their families. I'm sure no-one will be forced to do this against their will and they will doubtless be paid well for doing it but why aren't normal hours sufficient for people to do their shopping these days?

Because they're working the longest hours in Europe? Can't say it's done much for the economy, despite what the Tories warned us about the unpracticality of trade union calls and campaigns for shorter working weeks, such as they were or rather weren't. Someone should warn the French.

[Anna]

I think it's dreadful, who would want to go shopping at midnight or 3am in the morning? (possibly shiftworkers?) However, M&S have had very bad trading for some time so I imagine that's the reasoning behind it. I try and avoid all supermarkets during the pre-Christmas spending orgy preferring to get organised beforehand for storecupboard and household items and then just shopping at local greengrocer and butcher, the general hysteria prevailing in supermarkets really is a sight I'd rather not behold.

[vinteuil]

Even Scrooge didn't keep Bob Cratchit in this late.

... but, if you recall, the shops were open on Christmas Day itself then. Scrooge sends the boy off to buy a turkey for the Cratchits - on Christmas Day!

[ahinton]

It's the ever-expanding commercialisation of Christmas that gets me as well as the impact on staff and their families. I'm sure no-one will be forced to do this against their will and they will doubtless be paid well for doing it but why aren't normal hours sufficient for people to do their shopping these days?

Simply because there's no such thing as "normal hours", either for shopping or for anything else.

[ahinton]

Because they're working the longest hours in Europe? Can't say it's done much for the economy, despite what the Tories warned us about the unpracticality of trade union calls and campaigns for shorter working weeks, such as they were or rather weren't. Someone should warn the French.

Perhaps they should but, before they do so, they might care to bear in mind that the butchers' shops in three nearest villages to where I usually stay in rural SW France all open on Christmas morning!...

[Anna]

Perhaps they should but, before they do so, they might care to bear in mind that the butchers' shops in three nearest villages to where I usually stay in rural SW France all open on Christmas morning!...

I expect that's for people to collect their pre-ordered meat? I recall, when young, we used to go to St. Just in Cornwall over Easter, the only shops open on the morning of Good Friday were the fishmonger and the bakers - now look at Good Friday, it's just a normal day. Some Tescos have been trading on Christmas Day for a couple of years, I expect it won't be long before others do the same. I feel sorry for the staff who have to juggle family and/or childcare with consumerism such as this.
Edit: The girls in our local CooP tell me they get nothing extra per hour for working Bank Holidays, nor days off in lieu. So whilst I was quite keen on the CooP for its FairTrade policies it appears they don't treat their staff very well.

[MrGongGong]

It's the ever-expanding commercialisation of Christmas that gets me

Same as it ever was then

I remember the first time we visited Mont St Michel and walking up the narrow cobbled streets full of shops selling religious tat and over priced cafes , wonderful stuff.

Every year people go on about the "commercialisation of Christmas" BUT you don't have to join in !
one of our best was when my children were small and we borrowed a narrow boat, stew on the woodburner a long walk in the SNOW and back to gather round the laptop to watch The Simpsons movie ! great stuff .......

[teamsaint]

The great wonder of Mont St Michel is the ability of french families to cojure a full scale picnic, apparently out of thin air, to enjoy on the steps with the best views.
Miraculous, and enviable.

[ahinton]

I expect that's for people to collect their pre-ordered meat?

Well, yes and no; that does indeed represent quite a lot of what goes on then but all three do lay out their wares just as on any other day when they're open, so anyone collecting pre-ordered items can add to their purchase by selecting whatever's available on the counter - and this is in rural France, which is almost as "closed" as Wales once was!

I recall, when young, we used to go to St. Just in Cornwall over Easter, the only shops open on the morning of Good Friday were the fishmonger and the bakers - now look at Good Friday, it's just a normal day. Some Tescos have been trading on Christmas Day for a couple of years, I expect it won't be long before others do the same. I feel sorry for the staff who have to juggle family and/or childcare with consumerism such as this.

True, but very few if any large stores open on Easter Day - but isn't it easier "to juggle family and/or childcare" when the shops are open almost all the time than it is when they're closed too much of the time?

Edit: The girls in our local CooP tell me they get nothing extra per hour for working Bank Holidays, nor days off in lieu. So whilst I was quite keen on the CooP for its FairTrade policies it appears they don't treat their staff very well.

Ah, not like Waitrose, then! I remember talking to a manager in a Waitrose store some while ago and he said that he'd previously worked in Tesco and Sainsbury's for several years each but that when applying for a position with Waitrose he avoided mentioning this on his CV in case he didn't get the job! He now says that working with Waitrose he does ten hours per week more than he did with either of his previous employers, that he does this purely out of personal choice, that he's paid considerably more than his previous employers paid him for similar work and that he feels as though he's being treated like royalty by those under his supervision and those above him.