Comments on: Please Don’t Shop Tomorrow

By: Anderson

Anderson — Fri, 25 Nov 2005 20:35:00 +0000

Gimp, you're gonna have to explain that one to the slow-minded among us, like me.

By: Will Franklin

Will Franklin — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 21:45:54 +0000

Debbie Downer.

By: Patrick T. McGuire

Patrick T. McGuire — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 15:22:46 +0000

I wish I could afford to go shopping on Thanksgiving, not that I would but at least I would have the luxury of making the choice not to do so. But that's another story.

By: Gimp

Gimp — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 15:00:04 +0000

May I suggest that if you wish to see the effects of closing on Sunday, travel to Germany and see what it has done to them and then, as a comparison, travel to Poland and see what staying open does.

I submit that the quality of our life will go down if we close on Sunday.

By: Jo

Jo — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 11:52:04 +0000

Just a quick note to wish you and yours a great and safe Thanksgiving. And I agree -- no shopping on Thanksgiving.

By: DL

DL — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 09:35:56 +0000

I remember when a major auto dealership moved through NYC and into CT. Months later it forced a legal tight to open on Sundays. Blue state Ct. jumped at the chance to kill religious based blue laws and shop on Sundays - so families were forced to work, or suffer.
I am convinced that people buy cars because they need one - not because the store happens to be open on Sundays. Competion? It took a little while and they all were open so no competetive gain made. More salesmen driving, heating the places, more gas used, more accidents? What was the real gain?

By: anjin-san

anjin-san — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 06:59:21 +0000

Lets extend it to not shopping at Wal-Mart, ever.

By: A Knight’s Blog » No Loot For You!

A Knight’s Blog » No Loot For You! — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 05:00:51 +0000

[...] Leopold Stotch over at Outside the Beltway has called on us to boycott Thanksgiving Day shopping. I share his sentiments, and this is one “peeve” that really gets the Fair Maid riled up: holiday shopping (shopping on the holiday itself, not shopping for the holiday). I echo Leopold’s clarion call, and would only add that the word “holiday” comes from a contraction of the words “holy day.” I’m not saying that commerce is unholy, or that the two shall never mix, but from time immemorial one way of setting apart holy days from every other day was to cease business and commerce on those days, and devoting them to religious and family observances. Thus, the Israelites were commanded to not work on the Sabbath (”Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy”). [...]

By: Leopold Stotch

Leopold Stotch — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 04:18:26 +0000

Bryan: yeah, you're right -- for Christians the Sabbath was replaced by the Lord's Day (it's the only of the Ten Commandments not repeated in the New Testament). But Christians are supposed to respect Sunday the same way that Jews are expected to respect Saturday.

Maybe my post could be a bridge; we could all disengage in commerce on American holidays for the sake of our fellow citizens.

By: Arguing with Signposts

Arguing with Signposts — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 04:14:27 +0000

Open on Thanksgiving?!?

I hope this trend is nipped in the bud. If it proves successful, I fear for the sanctity of another American holiday under the heel of capitalism.

By: bryan

bryan — Thu, 24 Nov 2005 04:09:06 +0000

I agree with you ... mostly. if you believe in respecting the Sabbath, then it's incumbent on you to avoid participating in commercial behavior lest you essentially force others to work and capitalize on our boundless consumerism. If we all recognized the Sabbath, we would spend the same amount of money overall, but local businesses would close on Sunday and thus their proprietors would gain time with their families. Actually, the "sabbath" is Saturday, the seventh day of the week, not Sunday, the first day of the week, which is "The Lord's Day." Dean Esmay had a blog discussion about this recently here. That said, I'm all for having a day when there's not so much going on, and I wish we still had some "blue laws" to fall back on to keep one day as a "breather" if nothing else.