Keep It Heilig
Should Germany put its Sabbath ban behind?
Sunday has a different quality than the rest of the days. I'm not trying to get all mystical on you, but it never seems like I can get anything done during it. It's as if all the saints and martyrs (and normal goodmen and -women) are all chanting together in whatever Happy Hunting Ground they've been sent to, trying to get me to sit in the armchair and put my feet up instead of accomplishing anything or advancing myself.
Germany understands this, despite having never been fully Christianized -- why can't people leave it alone?
"You may think it would be a relief not to squander your Sunday on shopping. But any relief is counteracted by the increased stress on other days. On Saturdays, when stores must close by 8 p.m., groceries are clogged with Germans making sure they have enough food to sustain life until Monday morning. Instead of being allowed to spread their weekend errands out over two days, they have to cram them all into one."
The article pleads with Germany along capitalistic lines: you'd have more spending if places were open on Sunday. Okay, maybe, but that's part of the fun of it... having to get through the weekend over that purchasing black hole. This is the same reasoning that is foisting Halloween, Valentine's Day and other [pre-fab] holidays on an unsuspecting Europe, which didn't hear a whisper about these holidays as little as eight years ago. It's become a program to bulk up the German consumer market.
Well, readers, I put it to you: which is more important? Do you like having your Sundays free? Americans: is Germany being old-fashioned?
Comments
Is it a matter of fashion? First of all I question if a day for shopping more really makes a difference in general business. But having a non materialistic day to bethink or just chill down after a week of maximum productivity and/or unconscious consumption is a major social quality to me. It just gives me the good feeling to keep the illusion that we're not only in it for the (god damn) money. And if you want to know what comes after keyed up consumption, take a look at the US economy right now (and for the next year, of course). The only thing that really disturbs me is the fact that you US-guys ate too much candy over years and we'll have the toothace.
Norbert; February 28, 2006 2:00 PM
Of course it's the convenience of shopping whenever you feel like it and not when the law tells you to. Thanks to US lust for candy, the Germans still have jobs as the world export champion, although the majority of it trade is within the EU. But why not open the gates on Sunday?
Stefi; February 28, 2006 6:33 PM