War Clouds Gather Over France
 

Don't the French know its a basic human right to shop til you drop 24/7? I think the UN should hold a large, expensive international conference and get this huge issue resolved before war breaks out!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060625/...ce_day_of_rest

Yes, and I'm certain Miss Oprah &quot;Oh, are you actually <b>closed</b>????&quot; Winfrey will be leading the charge.

Dukey, cut Oprah some slack. Or should I say smack? Anyway, she has to shop for two - a big, big ole body and a little slimmer, firmer, more hollywood-like body!

Something else that would help the French economy is to have sales more than twice a year...I have heard they only have them in summer and winter in order to &quot;protect&quot; the smaller establishments. Seems like free enterprise would help everyone immensely.

Considering the place is a huge tourist destination, that they are famous for certain stores, items that one must have when visiting ( I mean, where else can you get chocolate that good?? or those cute little Eiffel Towers ) and they need to employ some people and pay their bills ( put in a/c in some hotels)..you would think this would actually be a sensible decision.

wren, can the term &quot;free enterprise&quot; be translated into French? Sounds a bit too foreign to me.

&quot;Don't the French know its a basic human right to shop til you drop 24/7?&quot;

While I hesitate to mention France and Nova Scotia in the same sentence, the province where I live doesn't allow Sunday shopping. Well, it doesn't allow some Sunday shopping. Or is it most Sunday shopping? No one can tell. It's all very confused and politically charged, pitting an unholy alliance of churches, unions, and rural folk against godless affluent urbanites (like me), who dislike being controlled ...

Just another reason why Nova Scotia will never be France, LOL. Wait a minute, we may be more alike than I thought.

Anselm

Here is a novel idea: open longer hours and hire new people to work those hours. Just might get that 25% youth unemployment rate down a bit.

War clouds over France? I see a surrender in the near future.

&quot;wren, can the term &quot;free enterprise&quot; be translated into French? Sounds a bit too foreign to me.&quot;

Reminds me of a quote attributed to a certain US president: &quot;The problem with the French is that they have no word for entrepreneur&quot;.

I'm half way through &quot;Sixty Million Frenchmen Can't be Wrong&quot;, and laughing like a drain.

This failure to understand across the cultures is EXACTLY what the book is about.

It's less than 10 years since shops were allowed to open on Sundays in England.

Here in Belgium its mostly the smaller shops that open on Sunday; the baker, butcher, the local small grocery store. It really doesn't bother me at all that I cannot go to Carrefour at midnight on Sunday.

War clouds over France? I see a surrender in the near future.

I just wonder how our intrepid American friends would have reacted to a superior army on their borders and years of occupation.

I am also interested that this sort of comment is tolerated on the forum when any suggestion that some Americans have a BMI over 25 or have voices slightly louder than turtle doves is instantly removed.

Food shops are open all over France on Sunday mornings. They close for the afternoon because people want to have a nice dinner and some time off.

The problem with having 24/7 shopping is that it means 24/7 working for a lot of people. What happens to family life? How do you say family life in American? I don't think Americans have a word for that!

Trying to make France or any other country into another America seems kind of counterproductive. Vive la diff&eacute;rence !

It always amuses me the number of people who come to France because of the 'life style' and then complain that the things that make it a wonderful place prevent them from shopping 24 hours a day.

Yes, many French think that families are still important and that they should have some time together. It may not last much longer, but it is still one of the things that makes life 'different' here.

&quot;I am also interested that this sort of comment is tolerated on the forum when any suggestion that some Americans have a BMI over 25 or have voices slightly louder than turtle doves is instantly removed.&quot;

Welcome to the double standard, Josser. When some Americans run up against something that intimidates them or causes them to question their own adequacy (such as the French), they mock it.

When I first came to France, it was a little bit inconvenient not to be able to go pick up a few items at the 24-hour drugstore. Now, I plan ahead.

&gt;&quot;When some Americans run up against something that intimidates &gt;them or causes them to question their own adequacy (such as the &gt;French), they mock it.&quot;

Yeah, the entire USA is quaking in their collective boots over that french &quot;intimidation&quot;. BTW, thanks for helping the USA gain its independence.

I think what most USA citizens object to has little to do with convenience. It would be the fact that were being TOLD we can't do something. Let the individuals make their own decision to shop or work on any day of the week, Sundays included.

Would it really create that many more jobs if shops were to open 24/7? Would consumers somehow have more money to spend if they can spend it on a Sunday; wouldn't the spending be spread out over 7 days instead of 6?

We're going through similar issues here in Switzerland. The small town I live in has a grocery store. It's open daily. Even on Sunday mornings! And that's one of their busiest mornings!

Most Swiss don't want all their stores open on Sundays except for a few well-placed grocery stores. And those stores are highly appreciated. By the way, gas stations with grocery stores are becoming VERY popular.

&gt;It would be the fact that were being TOLD we can't do something.

Do you object to being TOLD that you can't just walk into a shop, take things and leave it without paying?