AP: Food chain is warned to close on holiday (in Mass.)

[question everything]

Food chain is warned to close on holiday

BOSTON – There'll be no last-minute shopping for turkeys or trimmings on Thanksgiving Day in Massachusetts.

The state has warned the Whole Foods supermarket chain that it will risk criminal charges under the state's centuries-old "blue laws" if it goes ahead with plans to open on the holiday.

(snip)

Many of the state's Puritan-era blue laws, passed in the 1600s to keep colonists at home or in church on Sundays, have been repealed, such as a ban on liquor sales on Sundays. But one that remains in effect requires all stores, except convenience stores and gas stations, to close on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day.

Associated Press

From
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051120/news_1n20nation.html

[tavalon]

1. Wrong link n/t

[question everything]

2. No, it is not. You need to scroll down..

[tavalon]

7. Sorry, my bad. n/t

[kevinbgoode]

3. My, my. .. .a Pat Robertson holiday dream come true

I heard him say once on the 700 Club that when the evangelicals restored our "christian" nation, no business would be allowed to be open on the Sabbath.

[Skip Intro]

4. sheesh - just let free people be free

don't want to shop on thanksgiving, don't shop on thanksgiving, but don't tell me what I'm allowed to do or not allowed to do.

I hate being told what I'm allowed to do. I am a free person, yes?

[regnaD kciN]

16. Yes and no...

I hate being told what I'm allowed to do. I am a free person, yes?

Not if you live in a state without such laws, and "business pressures" force all stores to stay open on Sundays, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc. If your boss, along with every other employer in your career field, decrees that you have to work through the holiday, your "freedom" counts for little or nothing.

[Tom Joad]

5. Even for non-religious folks... this law has some value.

If more stores were to open, then the competition would feel like they would need to open the stores, which would mean they would need to get their workers in there. That would mean the workers would not have the same opportunity to have a special holiday with their family/friends where they could all do something together. (That can mean, on Dec. 25th, a family trip to church, or seeing a movie together with friends, for example, whatever they choose to do, be they very religious or very secular)

You can look at this as a pro-labor law.

There could be some good arguements to change it, but i think all things should be considered.

[Eric J in MN]

10. It's ok for people to work in movie theaters on Christmas but

not in supermarkets?

[Tom Joad]

15. Just saying the law has some value.

Better most workers are off for the day. Since most theaters will have low attendance, then only workers who volunteer will have to work.

I guess i am just saying that the fact most things are closed makes the day more special. It may get to the point where everything is open like most other days, and then it will even harder for workers to celebrate together with others.

If i lived in an atheist society, i would invent a holiday like ... Tom Paine's bday.

[question everything]

17. The sad reality is that too many people need these places to be open

so that they can work on their second jobs.

[regnaD kciN]

18. I find it interesting...

...that this law, which so many here decry as an archaic imposition of religion, has always been an accepted part of the everyday life of one of the most liberal states in the country. Whereas in the "Bible Belt," and other states where fundamentalist conservatism is the creed and where they're all-too-willing to criminalize all forms of sexual expression except the missionary position by a married heterosexual couple, any restriction on business to operate whenever and however it damn well pleases (except, of course, when it has to do with sexual matters!) would be unthinkable. Commerce über alles, indeed!

:eyes:

[proud2BlibKansan]

14. My husband worked odd hours for years

and we had Thanksgiving on Fri, Sat or Sun. No biggie.

[hlthe2b]

6. Do they force restaurants to close?

this is so stupid....

[regnaD kciN]

11. Not restaurants or theatres, but almost everyone else...

This is a law which has been around for decades at least. For all I know, it may go all the way back to the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

When I lived there in the '60s and '70s, it was just accepted that all stores would close on Sunday. It was no stranger than the notion that most places would be closed on Christmas Day.

When I visited Los Angeles in 1970, it seemed odd that everything was open on Sundays. I thought it was cool that I could go to a music store after church and pick up the latest Beatles or Chicago album.

Of course, when I moved there for graduate school nine years later, and took on a part-time job to make ends meet, the fact that I had to work both days of each weekend (as well as evenings throughout the week) made me somewhat nostalgic for Massachusetts, where I could at least count on having one day per week to myself and my family.

:shrug:

[hlthe2b]

20. Increasingly stores are opening late on Thanksgiving (walmart)

BUt what strikes me here in Denver is that on Christmas Day, not only are some of the Starbucks open (until mid-afternoon) with long lines typically but TOWER RECORDS is open all day. They get paid time and a half, so the employees didn't seem to mind and they did get bored "family escapees" periodically throughout the day...

[bluestateguy]

8. The only day that there should be blue laws is Election Day

but that's because I believe Election Day should be a national holiday.

[hlthe2b]

21. Lordy... no alcohol sales on Election Day?

However would we cope? LOL

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

9. New Years Day?

I can understand Xmas, and possibly even Thanksgiving....but New Years Day? Isn't that a bit ridiculous?

[Eric J in MN]

13. If you bag groceries on New Year's Day,

then God will send you to Hell.

Or not.

I don't know what they're thinking.

[proud2BlibKansan]

12. Here in the bible belt

we threw those blue laws out 20 years ago.

[neebob]

19. Lots of creatures will be relieved to to hear the food chain's closed. nt