MAY 21, 2008

       A few weeks ago I commented that we should be able to do what we want, when we want. The column said we need to have the freedom to make choices about what happens in our daily lives.

       One of the issues at hand was the subject of Sunday shopping. Some people strongly disagree with having stores open that day, while many are grateful we’re not limited to only shopping six days per week.

       I received this message on the SpeakFree website from Beth: “I don’t understand the point of having stores open for only six hours on Sunday. If you’re going to be open you might as well be open. The people are already at work, and if they need the money, they’ll work the shifts.”

       That opinion of course is met with opposition as some people believe Sunday is meant to be a day of rest and nobody should “have” to work that day. Again, I agree with Beth. If these employees want to work on a Sunday, they are well within their rights. On the other hand if, for religious reasons, an employee is unable to work on a Sunday he or she cannot be reprimanded by a boss.

       Scott sent an e-mail suggesting, “We live in a world [where] everything has to be 24 hours a day. Don’t people sleep anymore? Nothing can be that important that you have to go shopping in the middle of the night.”

       Good point, Scott. But you are forgetting (and possibly disrespecting) those shift workers that keep “irregular” hours – and by that I mean the non-traditional office hours – and only finish work in the middle of the night. They sleep when “regular” people are carrying on with their lives. Let’s think about those that don’t have a “typical” routine like the majority of the population.

       What have we learned from all this? Next time I get the Sunday newspaper or listen to the Sunday weather forecast, I will throw away the paper in protest to honour the willing staff that worked all Sunday night to print and deliver it to me and I’ll switch off the radio and let the approaching storm surprise me, so long as nobody had to work on Sunday.