I was giving you an example. German and French families have no other choice and seem to manage.
Holidays like Christmas in Germany can mean NO shopping for 4 days. People cope even with extended family and friends joining.
It can be done!
And it is not pointless ideologies. Unions are for the good of all - if you are willing to work on a Sunday you might be in a minority.
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Probably best that we donât get started on unionsâŚ
Interesting that you have experience in Germany thoughâŚI hear that union-management relations are quite civilised over there. Best of luck to you if you have to deal with French unionsâŚyou could be in for a shock!
Experienced unions in Germany, New York and Canada - way back when. Germany seemed the most convivial relations between management & union reps. New York - certain unions had us paying for their workers in order to use our own staffers.
The 24/7 lifestyle of the 2000âs is not sustainable. Family life certainly suffered in the UK over the past 20 years. One of the main reasons we decided to move to the continent. Less consumption - more living.
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If you rethought your approach you might find you get to spend more time with your family doing fun things! Blend exercise and shopping with your work and regular daily life.
I have 5 children, live in the sticks and work full-time, I manage to do my shopping between picking up children after school and going home. Iâm neither very efficient nor organised so if I can do it comfortably anyone can. Shopping is the most tedious activity imaginable, who wants to be taking forever to do it.
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??
Our unions are excellent.
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But so many people already work sundays and holidays. The world doesnât grind to a halt just because schools and offices close. In France many shops are open : florists bakers cake and chocolate shops butchers tabac
Lastly. How many of you who do work in offices actually take the whole of Sunday off ? Emails are relentless meetings seem to be booked at all hours of day and night. Am I not correct that few people work strictly a five day a week eight hour day
Slightly late in my career I realised what a appalling trap the culture of presentism was. Unlike the fixed 35 hour week I had a job where it was up to you to manage your time, so was doing 6+ day and 60 hour weeks. With some organisation and determination I managed to get that controlled to the huge benefit of my mental and physical health and family/social life. I now look at people who have their phones/ipads glued to them 24/7 with pity, it is seriously not cool. (Unless of course they are digital nomads)
Small owner run shops can open if they wish in France, but large ones are more regulated. And you cannot demand an employee works on a Sunday.
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What is a digital nomad?
Husband is one of those youâd pity but his company is American and heâs communicating with people in Australia Asia and us west coast so timings can be complicated
Iâve heard a lot of french people defending the Sunday rest. But I do think it rings a bit hollow when I walk into my local town and see how many business are open. And thatâs before I start to think about essential services.
To be frank. I used to waitress so sundays and holidays were rarely my own. Not that that was a huge problem really. My biggest bugbear was getting in at the end of an evening and finding the only tv programmes were solely aimed at the tipsy customers Iâd just waved goodbye (yes it was a LONG time ago pre Netflix)
You might be interested in this article I just read BettinaâŚ
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Yes, I do this too when I donât make the weekly shopâŚbut I find it tiresome - you have to be constantly thinking about what you need, whereas a weekly shop allows you to forget about it and get on with other stuff.
Blending with exercise sounds inetersting - next time I go for a run Iâll take an empty backpack, jog to the shops and return with a 24 pack of 1664 on my backâŚsorry, I meant fruit and veg for dinnerâŚ
My point is certainly not that we should be made to work like drones 7 days a week - but I reject the notion that everything must be closed on Sundays when there are equally effective and more convenient ways to ensure people get rest time without inconveniencing the entire population.
I completely agree! Canât stand going shopping daily, I do a big shop and donât go back for a week. With a pop into our local epicerie I can sometimes even go 10 days - bliss!
But it isnât is it - lots of food stores open in the morning. the only local supermarket to me that isnât is Lidl so if Sunday shopping suits you then you should be able to do it!
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My supermarket is closed on SundaysâŚbut youâre right, loads of people are working on Sundays in various different roles proving that it can be done and the world still turns.
That has certainly changed in the 14 years weâve been here, so I think @Marty2 is talking about a France that no longer exists. Nowadays, Leclerc, Lidl and Intermarche are all open on Sunday mornings in our local town. Centrakor is open Sunday afternoon (for everything other than food.) No longer do I have to warn late arriving Saturday gite guests that they will struggle to do a shop on Sunday other than at our (totally inadequately stocked) village shop.
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Totally agree, in the late 90s / 2000âs Sundays were completely closed! I think we went back to Oz in 2008 and I have a vague memory that maybe the big supermarkets in Castelnaudary had started doing Sunday morning opening around that time.
trying hard - clothes get replaced once they are not wearable anymore (many âholyâ tshirts are now paint clothes). I have limited myself to three pairs of new shoes a year (again replacing). Not exactly living on hand me downs, but love charity/second hand shops.
And this from a die hard shopper. In New York I was a 5th Avenue shopaholic⌠200+ pairs of shoes, 20 LBDâs you name it.
France does not require the same amount of latest fashion (unless you belong to certain Parisian circles).
BUT - guilty of online shopping. It is much easier to get the things you really want. We live in very rural France and I refuse to drive two hours to get to a larger shopping centre.
As to groceries - weekly shop. I keep an updating list on my phone. If I hit the stores I buy what is on the list, tick it off and forget about it. Reduces the guess work and duplication or âsh⌠forgot to buy this for dinnerâ moments.
Remember those days - we managed to arrive at a gĂŽte some km from Limoux not knowing that the Monday was a bank holiday. Nothing was open on the Sunday which wasnât a surprise but then we found everything closed on Monday as well - we couldnât even get petrol as the 24/7 pumps didnât (and still often donât) accept non-French cards which was awkward as, having driven down from Calais we didnât have much fuel left. I think we managed to find a baker and lived on bread for 2 days.
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You would have been fairly close to where we were at the time!
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People who work wherever they happen to be with their laptop/phone/tablet and have no fixed business or home base. Very difficult in France as the tax regulations arenât adapted. But Canary Isles and Madeira are encouraging it to replace tourism.
I think we all did pretty unsustainable things in our youth - I had a period of working 4 part time jobs. But developing a career and trying to bring up children and have a healthy lifestyle is a different matter when 60 hour weeks are not good for anyone!
A nephew and niece spent a month or so in Madeira (I think it was) Maybe that was what they were doing. Both certainly working from there.
You are so right 60 hours plus kids is not sustainable. Mine have mostly moved on now but I think Iâm too old and lazy do try very long working weeks again!