S is for Sunday Shopping

Note: I'm throwing my hat into the A-Z Blogging challenge sponsored by Tossing it out! What you will be reading via the letters A-Z will give you a glimpse into my world and what I do when I'm not here - blogging.

Today is Sunday.

To some in the world, it is also Easter Sunday. (Enjoy and Be Happy)

And to others, on this revolving little orb, it is just another day - without the Sun.

Some will share this day with loved ones, others will enjoy it in time spent alone. This day will be enjoyed in whatever fashion befits the occasion - holiday or rest, or for some as a day to catch up on a little shopping.

I came across an interesting document outlining “Sunday Closing and Weekly Rest Periods: Historical Evolution and Current Situation” as it effects Canadians.

A very interesting read - and if you are a Canadian take a peek then astonish your friends at your next dinner party with the inside scoop on how Sunday shopping came into being.

I grew up with Sunday being devoted to family and doing something together as a family. Not necessarily going to church - although as a wee tyke I remember my siblings and I would wander down to the end (the north end to be exact) of our block and go to Sunday School. (there was a church at the south end as well - I think the folks flipped a coin and the north won)

This going to church was to preoccupy ‘the kids’ while ma and pa had their weekly conjugal visit. (yes...even little kids know why they are being sent to church without their parents)

As the years went by and church was no longer a suitable babysitter (I’m calling it what it was) we could then all be found with our skis strapped on bee-bopping down the hill of a local mountain.

Or, when the snow was packed away for the warm months, we could be found in the garden - clipping, trimming, weeding and complaining.

All good quality family time, according to Dad!

When the gardening was no longer enough to occupy the energies of four active teenagers we finished the basement and made a rec room. (who didn’t have a rec room in the 60’s and 70’s for their wayward kids on the verge of Woodstock)

Ah, the glorious Sunday - a day of togetherness, for families and friends. 

I do vaguely remember when Sunday shopping started, and as we were then more or less adults, my father shook his head as we waved on our way out the front door.

As he acquiesced in our decision he blamed the changing of the times for the ruination of his family - and how this would never have happen ‘back home’ in the motherland. (a bit dramatic I think, considering it was the "divorce" that was the ruination of our family, let's not blame everything on Sunday shopping)

Off we went, motley crew that we were, and became part of a generation that lost something special on their road to adulthood - that one day when you knew Dad would be enjoying your company. (weeding, skiing, hiking or just hanging out in the garage putting an engine back together)

Since the enactment of our Charter of Rights in 1982 and the need to address ‘multicultural issues’ Sunday is now just another day - one of seven, in a week that knows no beginning and no end.

Do you remember what life was like before Sunday Shopping?

Until T...