Sunday Shutdowns (Discussion #6)
Location: Uig and Portree, Isle of Skye
Date: November 13th, 2018
One of the most interesting (and often inconvenient) occurrences that I've come across is the shutting down of businesses on Sundays. I didn't often go out into town on Sundays as this day was usually reserved for doing homework or hiking. Imagine the frustration of wanting to catch up with a friend and finding all the stores in the mall shut down for the day! This phenomena isn't just localized in Aberdeen; I went up to Inverness with a fellow Mines student also studying at the University of Aberdeen on a Sunday, thinking this would be a great outing before the new school week started, but as we arrived, the only shops throwing their doors wide open were the occasional pub and repetitive tourist stores.
If the weekend is seen as the few days people can take a break from working, why does the country seem to shut down on Sundays? If people are looking to travel over the weekend, why is it that many bus services seems to not operate on this day?
The short answer: Christianity. The religion declares that Sunday is the "day of rest" and early Christian culture took Sunday to be a day dedicated only to prayer and to reflection upon the Lord. While most modern day believers have moved away from taking a day of not leaving the house except to attend church, many of the retailers in the country still follow "Sunday Shopping" laws that England and Wales had implemented. These rules dictate that alcohol cannot be sold before a certain time and certain stores may not open their doors on the day of rest. Scotland itself does not have any laws that mimic this, but they do have act in place that prohibits shops from compelling their employees from working on the day of rest. With this legislation in place along with the historic ties to Catholicism and Protestantism, many of the shops still choose to close their doors.
The United States isn't very similar in this aspect as many stores continue to remain open on Sundays. Some small towns may opt out of providing businesses or services and a few big brands, such as Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A, also close on Sundays as the companies are rooted in Christian beliefs. Besides this, the majority of towns will stay open and most bus services continue to operate. The reason for this is because the U.S. has become a greatly diverse and the topic of religion has been met with negative remarks and connotation. Faith-based violence has increased dramatically and evidence of this is seen in the news weekly, if not daily. The result is that business are being hurt negatively if they associate or follow the beliefs of a personal faith. For companies, it's better to identify to a larger demographic, which means maintaining a neutral stance.
 |
| The Cowshed Hostel (My photo) |
Date: November 13th, 2018
One of the most interesting (and often inconvenient) occurrences that I've come across is the shutting down of businesses on Sundays. I didn't often go out into town on Sundays as this day was usually reserved for doing homework or hiking. Imagine the frustration of wanting to catch up with a friend and finding all the stores in the mall shut down for the day! This phenomena isn't just localized in Aberdeen; I went up to Inverness with a fellow Mines student also studying at the University of Aberdeen on a Sunday, thinking this would be a great outing before the new school week started, but as we arrived, the only shops throwing their doors wide open were the occasional pub and repetitive tourist stores.
 |
| Overlooking the town of Uig (My photo) |
The short answer: Christianity. The religion declares that Sunday is the "day of rest" and early Christian culture took Sunday to be a day dedicated only to prayer and to reflection upon the Lord. While most modern day believers have moved away from taking a day of not leaving the house except to attend church, many of the retailers in the country still follow "Sunday Shopping" laws that England and Wales had implemented. These rules dictate that alcohol cannot be sold before a certain time and certain stores may not open their doors on the day of rest. Scotland itself does not have any laws that mimic this, but they do have act in place that prohibits shops from compelling their employees from working on the day of rest. With this legislation in place along with the historic ties to Catholicism and Protestantism, many of the shops still choose to close their doors.
The United States isn't very similar in this aspect as many stores continue to remain open on Sundays. Some small towns may opt out of providing businesses or services and a few big brands, such as Hobby Lobby and Chick-fil-A, also close on Sundays as the companies are rooted in Christian beliefs. Besides this, the majority of towns will stay open and most bus services continue to operate. The reason for this is because the U.S. has become a greatly diverse and the topic of religion has been met with negative remarks and connotation. Faith-based violence has increased dramatically and evidence of this is seen in the news weekly, if not daily. The result is that business are being hurt negatively if they associate or follow the beliefs of a personal faith. For companies, it's better to identify to a larger demographic, which means maintaining a neutral stance.
Comments
Post a Comment