Olden Days.

We found out this week that Mister's employer has decided that starting very soon they're going to be open on Sundays.
Not a wise decision, if you ask me (not that anyone is), and not just because Mister's work schedule is going to be all willy-nilly as a result.
I'm not going to divulge the industry Mister is in because I have to be careful about that sort of thing so that I don't make it easy for my stalker to find me, but I will tell you that the industry he works in is sort of retail-ish.
So, yeah, pretty much every place that sells stuff (i.e. retail-ish) is open on Sunday nowadays.

Except Chick-Fil-A. 

Because the founder of Chick-Fil-A, S Truett Cathy, is brilliant.
Way back in 1946 he established his "closed on Sunday" policy and it hasn't changed since even though Chick-Fil-A has almost 1400 restaurants.

Chick-fil-A, the second-largest quick-service chicken restaurant chain in the country, gives all employees Sunday off to spend with family, to relax and to express their faith if they choose to do so. Yet, Chick-fil-A generates more sales in six days than most national chains produce in seven. Closing on Sunday is just one of the “principles before profits” ingredients in founder Truett Cathy's inspiring recipe-for-success.

Hobby Lobby, the ginormous arts/crafts conglomerate that has 443 stores in 35 states, is also closed on Sundays.  

That some company's 'closed on Sunday' policy is still in place in today's day and age is, well, like I said...brilliant.  Who wouldn't want to work for a company that thinks you should probably have a day unto yourself and your family once a week?  Or who recognizes/promotes/encourages the balance between work and family?
You know what that equates to, right?  It equates to the old-fashioned ideal of valuing your peeps. 
Which equates to high morale...loyalty... and success all around.

I know...crazy concept, right?

Me, 1970, wearing the homemade

halter top that I probably

made on a Sunday

I'm actually old enough to remember when almost nothing was open on Sundays and if it was open, there were restrictions on what you could buy.   
(For example, I think you could buy gas but not alcohol or clothing.) 

As we weren't the church-going type of family, Sundays were for long drives and barbeques and doing things out of doors in which the use of imagination, creativity and sometimes a little mischief were required.  We called doing things like that 'playing' and our parents shoo'd us out the door to pursue it.  Because back in those days parents were still in charge of their kids, not the other way around like it is now. 

My sis, Santa, me - circa 1966?

  Picture not taken on a Sunday

Sunday's have a certain feel to them; they were slow, easy days and I don't know about you but I'm still on that vibe.  I like to kick back on Sundays...do low key things...take a drive...cook a big meal that we all sit and eat together, etc.
Naïvely, I was going to write that I wonder if some of you don't know that feel? 

Well, yeah, I guess there are plenty of people who don't...or who don't care to preserve it.  Shame, that.
Everyone is always so busy running around being connected electronically and impersonally...there really should be one day where we're connecting together, live and in-person.
Isn't it bizarre that somehow that's become radical thinking?

Thought:  Just because you can (be open on Sunday), doesn't mean that you should(be open on Sunday) .

Here's an interesting site called Closed On Sundays.  Their purpose is stated as:  Re-establishing Sunday as a day for restoring family relationships.  Novel, huh?  Imagine the audacity of suggesting such a thing!
(I kid, I kid.) 
Check out their page on why businesses should close on Sundays.  Even if you're not church-going folk (like my family, sinners that we are), they offer some pretty solid reasoning.

There's even a Facebook page that wants to Bring Back Blue Laws!

Listen, I get that life is hectic and people don't have a lot of spare time and I get that not being able to do some of the things that need to get done on Sundays would be a huge inconvenience to a lot of people.
What I don't get is why the mall, for instance, needs to be open from 10am - 7pm on Sunday
(:::cough cough greed cough:::).
What if it were open from 11am - 3pm?  You could still shop for whatever essential (?) thing you need at the mall (like that new MAC lipstick shade or those new sneakers that can't be bought on any of the other six days of the week) and the people who work there could still have a barbeque or a nap or play with their kids when they got home from work. 

There's that balance thing again.

Another crazy concept...