Please don’t shop on Boxing Day
Monday 5th October 2009, 3:00PM BST.
From Elizabeth Drew.
AS a retail assistant in one of the main Jersey stores, it concerns me that greed is overtaking our season of goodwill.
It seems that many stores, especially the UK-based ones, will be wanting to open on Boxing Day unless the Chamber of Commerce put a stop to it. There are stores which do not want to open but unfortunately in the current climate will feel that they have no alternative but to open in case they lose valuable sales to the shops that do.
For those people who don’t work in retail, they may not know that the staff will have no choice but to work on Boxing Day, as it is not classed as a bank holiday, and refusing to work then may result in disciplinary action being taken against them.
Why should we open on Boxing Day just because it is on a Saturday? What will happen next year when Christmas Day is on Saturday – open then, too? If the stores do open this year on Boxing Day, many people’s Christmases will be ruined, mine included.
Has it really come to this? What I find difficult to come to terms with is the need to open on Boxing Day. Being an Island, it’s not as though we are going to get hundreds of people coming in to shop like they do with the big UK centres.
If the stores agree to close Boxing Day, and maybe on the Sunday after (although that may be expecting a bit much) and launch their sales on the Monday, trust me, there will be a lot of happier managers and sales assistants in the Island.
And if we do have to open? I would urge the people of Jersey to vote with their feet and not shop on Boxing Day, and hopefully this situation will not arise again.
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You should be allowed to choose on which days you want to work. You might do so from religious or other traditional reasons. It is not reasonable for you to ask people who do not follow your religion or traditions to have to behave as you want to.
Would you feel happy to have all shops close on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays to please those who follow Islam, or are Jewish or Christian? We will finish up with no shops open on any day.
The only answer is total freedom to open at any time on any day but to allow those who do not want to work then to do as they wish.
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I am totally sympathetic with Elizabeth Drew.
It has always been a source of wonderment that our political “leaders” (who are often also the island’s commercial magnates) have yet to declare Boxing Day as a bank holiday, as is the case in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
I would offer Ms Drew a little advice: if her employers insist on opening their undertaking on 26 December she – and everybody else – could take that day as annual leave.
Yesterday’s “Line In the Sand” event demonstrated the effect of people power. Taking a day off on Boxing Day as annual leave may be at the employee’s expense, but if enough people do so it will make a difference.
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My advice,is change your job.i would love to have a job,and i don’t mind working on boxing day.i will work 7 day’s a week,if that means,i can put food on my childrens table.and i kid you not.and i am a jerseyman.i go out everyday looking for work,it’s not that easy anymore.so i say again to you,just be happy that you have a job,and enjoy your christmas day.i and my family will not be enjoying christmas this year.
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Count me in Elizabeth, I’m not religious, I simply find it off-putting that every day has to be about how much money can be made. No money will be made on the Saturday that wouldn’t simply be made on other days were the shops shut on the Saturday.
There are those who suggest that you should take the day off using your annual holidays, simply so that they can shop on the Saturday. I wonder if there is anything stopping them taking the Monday off using their annual holiday and allowing them to shop on the Monday instead?
Scoiety really has no idea what it is doing to itself.
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Unemployedjerseyman should stop feeling sorry for himself and get on his bike.
If he cannot find work in Jersey perhaps he should look elsewhere.
I am well past retirement age, but hardly a week passes that I do not receive emails from employment agencies in the UK and in other European countries offering me work in my field.
There IS work out there; you just have to look for it.
If an unemployed person does not have qualifications then now is a good time to study for them.
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What about the people who work in hotels? Many stay open right throughout the year, 24/7/365. Many hotel staff work 6 days a week from early in the morning until very often the early hours of the next day.
When you want to go for Sunday lunch at any time of the year, or you want to go out for Christmas Day Lunch, Boxing Day Dinner etc you expect the hotels and restaurants to be there ready to serve you. Do you know how many staff it takes to run a hotel on a daily basis? How many chefs it takes to cook a 3 or 4 course meal? Not just a Christmas but at New Year too, and then back in at 6am on New Years Day. And even then there is no such term as overtime pay or bank holiday pay for most people in the hospitality industry!
These people have families too, and as some of us dont have our family on the island we havent seen them for many many years on Christmas Day.
Do we mind? Do we care? Of course, but we choose our trade and if you really feel so strongly about it then you should let unemployedjerseyman take up her post and go work in the financial sector.
Or here’s another idea, why not close every business on Boxing Day, so when you realise you dont have enough fuel in your car you can’t go anywhere on Boxing Day to see your friends and family because the buses dont run either, or if you find you’ve not got any milk, or an essential item for your Christmas Lunch or Boxing Day Breakfast, you won’t be able to run to Alfonsos or any of the other little shops that would usually be open for a few hours on Christmas Day and all day Boxing Day.
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[5]Pro Bono Publico,,,I would like to state,that i do not feel sorry for myself,i do look for work,on a daily basis,and why should i have to leave the island,that i love so much.or is that your way of saying,that the boat leaves in the morning.but no,that is not PC anymore.but please,let me know if i can ever be of service to you,my last job was as an Taxidermist,,,,
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Sorry, but with the prices in town i will be surfing the net for the deals on Boxing Day.
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# 7:
I am sure that unemployedjerseyman could profitably use his declared skills in the States Assembly chamber.
However, in the meantime, he should perhaps think laterally and “outside the box”.
Working away from Jersey does not necessarily construe as the rather snide comment he offered, but rather a tip to expand his searches.
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#6, I can only assume that when the writer took on her job she did not expect the shop to be open on Boxing Day (even if that was a Saturday), otherwise I can’t imagine she would be bothering to write to the paper.
Hotel work is something I would never, ever do, because of the reasons you state. It is well known that if you work in a hotel you will have to work on days that you would rather spend with family, you make that decision when you take the job.
In saying that, I choose not to go to hotels or shops on these days so as not to contribute to the need for you to work.
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#6 I can’t believe my generation and my parents generation managed to survive till the current day! How on earth did we cope with no petrol stations or shops open on Christmas Day (or Christmas Eve/Boxing Day for that matter)? It’s a shame that we are no longer forced to plan ahead and stock up, it’s probably also why so much of what we buy is wasted, we are losing skills that we once had.
If running out of milk or fuel is going to cause someone that much bother then they really need to rethink their priorities in life.
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It is fair to say that if there is no demand shops will not open, i can only assume that us Islanders do shop on Boxing day to warrant the shops opening, so the blame lies at our door, not the governments or indeed the shop owners
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Gary #12, if that was the case then shops would take a poll to see whether or not it was worth their opening.
In reality, shops being open does tend to cause people to go out and shop, although I doubt that increased opening hours greatly increases sales over the course of a year. Don’t know why shopping is such a ‘fun’ thing for some people, but it seems to be and they don’t care if someone is having to miss out on family celebrations just for them to do something they could do just as easily a couple of days later.
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Leah, i do not disagree that the shops being open encourage people out, but the point is we still go out!
And I am sure there are amny people who work on Bank Holidays that we do use, garages, convenience stores, all of the services have people working (Obviously) call centres etc etc I am afraid that retail has moved on and most people expect to be able to shop 6 or 7 days a week regardless of the time of year.
Give a thought to catering staff on low wages being forced to work christmas day and New Years Eve, how many of us go out for a meal or a drink on New Years Eve, do we think we should stay at home so the staff would not have to work?
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#14, Gary
Leah can’t understand why people get excited about shopping, I see her point and so would Helier Clement!
My problem is that I can’t get excited about New Year’s Eve. I couldn’t think of a worse time to go out for a meal or a drink (except Valentine). I am always well tucked up in bed when the fireworks brigade celebrate what to me is just another midnight.
I could possibly get more enthusiastic about it if it occurred in summer. I’ve been to the Solstice at Stonehenge a good few times. No fireworks and usually no sunrise either!
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I own a retail shop in st helier and i for one will not be opening on boxing day bank holidays,liberation day etc. I put in approx 10 hours a day for 6 days a week so i’ll be opening again on the 29 th december and will enjoy my christmas roast with my wife and friends,a good film on the telly and loads of red wine.
I think i desevre at least a few days off over chrimbo
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Most shops are displaying their Christmas merchandise now….in October. So what exactly is it that people cannot buy before Boxing Day, causing the shops to open on a traditional holiday?
Petrol and other essentials can easily be bought beforehand, just plan effectively and ensure you are well stocked on anything you might need.
Even Christmas day itself isn’t exempt from the odd shop, pub or restaurant opening.
I do not work in retail, but it would be nice to have at least ONE day a year where there are no shops open!
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As usual everyone is debating something that in other countries it has been decided already years in advance.
This as an agreed holiday on Monday 28th in UK, Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and guess what all this was printed last year, I am sure I am not the only one that has had a diary since jan 2009??!!!!
I would of hoped based on this States debacle that they would have the sense to discuss next year as most other countires again have agreed that although Christmas falls on a saturday that both Monday 27th & Tuesday 28th are public holidays in the UK.
Here is also a website for bank holidays up to 2012 if it helps our states members and others plan. http://www.2010bankholidays.co.uk/
Plus if you work or have worked in retail you know that it involves working public holidays. Based on the premise of the argument in the letter you are also therefore advocating the day after New years day should also be a holiday as guess what that is also a Saturday this year and the day after new years day has never been a public holiday. Face it that is the way the cookie crumbles this year and be thankful you have a job.
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Just take the four days off, thats what I shall be doing. I have planned ahead so I will not be going to a shop or be going out for a meal during this time. Think of others for a change and don’t force them to have to work. Let others have some time off to enjoy with their friends and family.
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Most Technology staff will be working around the clock to keep things ticking over for you. So not just retail that are forced to work.
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Children dying of starvation around the world, wars breaking out, persecution, poverty, crime. This thread is an example of how far removed some people in Jersey are from the real world.
How dare you make an issue out of such a pathetic and self serving issue. Shame on you. As others have said, get another job if you don’t like it. Christmas ruined! At least you have a xmas and a job!
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#21, personally I think you’re being a bit harsh. The letter is about the fact that greed is overtaking social values, which is exactly what causes the problems of child starvation, crime, wars! We all know that plenty of support has been sent out to Africa and the like, but it is prevented by reaching the necessary people and places by the greed of those in charge in those countries! It is the exact same greed that all of us are guilty of at some time, just on a greater level.
I cannot see how you can have such a strong reaction to someone actually being concerned that social values are being eroded by greed, I’m glad to see that someone actually cares about how self-centred society is becoming.
The more money is valued by society the greater the decrease in social values, that is a huge problem. The divide between rich and poor is getting bigger not smaller, and that is the cause of many international problems.
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Does no-one wonder what happens to the children of these people that are made to work? And I say “made” because chances are they are on such low wages that they feel it necessary to take up any opportunity to work.
The more people that are working the more children that are going unsupervised, and if you live in St Helier you know exactly what damage unsupervised children can do.
Trouble with Boxing Day is there will likely be more alcohol lying around the house tempting them.
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i for one will NOT be shopping on boxing day, and if i have not got something tough.
i am not a religious person but each to their own what ever the faith, find that xmas is far removed from days gone by, and in now a commercial venture, get the latest and greatest bike of consumer rubbish you can find.
unemployed taxidermist, have you tried putting a advert in the paper or on jersey insight ,
hope you get somthing soon, jersey post were after xmas staff, good luck , the games not over yet.
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I for one will not be shopping on Boxing Day. Shopping to me is a bit like unblocking the sink. Not a pleasant job, but one that has to be done from time to time when needs must.
Having said that, I can see that the attraction for shopping on such days, including the Sundays up to Christmas is the free parking on offer.
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ALL of you jst take a moment and listen to yourselves, if it’s not one thing its another!!
Grow up the lot of you!!
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Susi, you are absolutley correct. If it’s not one thing its another!!
And without all these concerned commentators picking up on issues, too many faits acconplis would be perpetrated without anyone batting an eyelid.
They also serve who only sit and write!
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