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Has it actually been announced that things would be back to normal next Sunday? I can't find anything confirming that, so I think it's still possible that the stores will have the opportunity to be open again next Sunday.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Magic78
People who are accustomed to not work on Sundays obviously don't want to work on Sundays. They could have other jobs, familial commitments, etc. The ENTIRE point is that businesses should have the option to be open, not forced by a government mandate that says you can't sell clothes on a Sunday. It is archaic.
Exactly--if people have had every Sunday off for years, they will very likely not be thrilled at suddenly being told that they needed to work that day.
FWIW, I too spent some time at Bergen Town Center today--I found Target to be decidedly not empty, and every store we wanted to visit in the mall was open. It seems that some of the stores that weren't, simply did not have the time to coordinate in the midst of everything--it wasn't necessarily a choice to observe the Blue Laws.
Has it actually been announced that things would be back to normal next Sunday? I can't find anything confirming that, so I think it's still possible that the stores will have the opportunity to be open again next Sunday.
I spoke with Donovan and said she will tell Christie to repeal the suspension by next week. Christie will repeal the suspension upon Donovan's request. It was by Donovan's order that the blue laws were suspended two Sundays because of Hurricane Sandy. However malls were told to open only for this Sunday with the option of individual store.
Workers, local residents, security/police officers freaked out about being open this Sunday. First time in more than 60 years is not easy!
Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseyjersey
Exactly--if people have had every Sunday off for years, they will very likely not be thrilled at suddenly being told that they needed to work that day.
True. But keep in mind that many people wouldn't be able to work in retail then, and many people wouldn't want to open business, or live in Bergen County either.
Is it acceptable to inconvenience a subset of people in order to assist people who lost their homes, family, jobs, businesses, and everything they had get their lives back together?
It does bring up several interesting points. To address the stances...
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
Stance 1
People in Bergen County (if the OP is a fair representative) feels that it is an absurd idea. Businesses should not have the choice in whether they want to be open on a Sunday to help recover from the disaster and residents of the county should not be inconvenienced with outsider traffic. This stance shows how selfish people are.
I don't think anyone, even Nunnor really, was against the idea of opening or at least opening critical businesses. There was also an undercurrent of politization over this. Christie was quite vocal about wanting the Blue Laws repealed, this certainly gave him an opportunity to do that at least temporarily. I think there was some amount of, "now I can make you do it" behind the decision.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
Stance 2
Everyone should be allowed to help in any way they choose and the blue laws should be temporarily suspended to allow a retail business to participate in the rebuilding efforts of the state. We should put our petty issues aside and come together as a state and work together. This stance shows how caring people are.
Given the situation this is obviously the "right" thing to do. Opening to give people an opportunity to shop and stay somewhere warm when stores would otherwise be closed was a good move. I cannot see anyone really being against this, unless it was a harbringer of a larger and permanent change.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJBest
Stance 3
Blue laws restrict freedom of choice and should be abolished. Moderator cut: off-topic
It is, but to me that was the more interesting part of the discussion. I don't think anyone really feels that in exceptional circumstances there was anything wrong in doing something exceptional. However, the discussion quickly drifted to the macro topic of the Blue Laws overall. People through out several reasons why they were bad:
1. Governmental intrusion into free markets.
2. Lost sales tax revenue to the state.
3. Lost revenue to businesses.
The first is basically more a general discussion point and can be countered simply by citing the various other regulations from federal to state to local that govern how, where and when a business can operate.
The last two are interesting cases that attempt to build a reason why they should be repealed. What I find ironic and I stated several posts back is that these claims while seemingly important have no real basis. No one can prove that there is lost revenue to the state or business and as I intoned earlier, it may actually be a pro-business move.
Ultimately, the macro topic of the Blue Laws is something that should be left to the people of Bergen County and they seem overwhelmingly in favor of them. No one can demonstrate, but plenty of people state without fact, that there is some sort of negative impact on the rest of us. Absent that, there is no reason, IMO, why the people of Bergen County can't keep their 'tradition' as long as they want to.
Last edited by BstYet2Be; 11-12-2012 at 10:43 PM..
Reason: updated quoted text
It would be interesting to know how many people in Bergen County go elsewhere to shop on Sunday and what their thoughts would be if all of a sudden those places were also closed.
It would be interesting to know how many people in Bergen County go elsewhere to shop on Sunday and what their thoughts would be if all of a sudden those places were also closed.
There are some people who live in Bergen County that do shop or visit malls on Sundays for any reason, especially those who live few miles from the border. Malls that are open on Sundays do love Bergen C. blue laws because it brings more money in to them, otherwise they would lose.
I would LOVE if all of the U.S. & Canada had blue laws. When I go to other counties and states seeing things being open on Sundays, my heart hurts for the poor employees
There are some people who live in Bergen County that do shop or visit malls on Sundays for any reason, especially those who live few miles from the border. Malls that are open on Sundays do love Bergen C. blue laws because it brings more money in to them, otherwise they would lose.
I would LOVE if all of the U.S. & Canada had blue laws. When I go to other counties and states seeing things being open on Sundays, my heart hurts for the poor employees
At this time in the US, your "heart hurts" for people with jobs? You must need a by-pass when you see unemployment figures.
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