MAY 7, 2008

       Do you ever get the urge to go shopping on a Sunday at 10 p.m.? What about gambling into the wee hours and spending all your hard-earned money? Maybe we could do these things if our lives weren’t so controlled.

       The idea for this column came to me when I deposited a cheque for a large sum of money. I was told that nearly half the cash would be “held” for several days and then released into my bank account. I was concerned that a financial institution would have the say about when I can have my own money.

       True, this could be done for security reasons as the cheque was for a lot of money, but once it’s in my account I consider the money mine.

       I tried paying a credit card bill (for less than the amount I had just deposited) but was told I had insufficient funds to complete the transaction.

       From there I started thinking about when we can shop and when stores and bars are “allowed” to be open under government regulations. If I want to clothes shop at 4 a.m. on a Sunday, who has the right to tell me I can’t get a new pair of pants?

       The argument is always that retail spending will get out of control and there’s no need to be shopping that late at night. Again, it’s the government telling us what we “should” and “shouldn’t” be doing at that time of night.

       It’s interesting that on the flip side of things, we have no say in how the government makes decisions when it comes to rules and regulations that affect us on a daily basis.

RELATED ARTICLE: Leave Sunday alone!