Ours used to be a dawn to dusk world. We got up when the first light of dawn crept into the cave or hut and retired when it got too dark to do most things. Some things carried on by the flickering light of a fire but those activities were mostly concerned with recreation and procreation.
Trouble started when some ingenious fellows found ways to extend the light of day by use of the controlled burning of candles and lamps. I say fellows because the gals were too dead tired from their daily chores to stay awake and play clam-shell chip poker or scratch stick critters on the wall. Long-burning lamps and gaslights gave way to the electric bulbs and now that we can have light 24 hours a day, some people work and play well past sunset.
Back to the dawn to dusk days, people were finding life a bit of a daily grind so they formed a union and bargained for one day in seven off. No fighting saber-tooth tigers, slaying herbivores for their hides or hooking a trout for a quick snack. They hired a lawyer to write some script that proclaimed every seventh day a day of rest, or at least time off for a game of toss the hide ball, kick the pig’s bladder or hit the frozen horse pucks with a stick. The women were happy to take up rug hooking and serving leftovers on their day of ‘rest’.
Society finally agreed on a calendar and named the day off as Sunday since everyone hoped for sunshine on the day of rest. Life progressed calmly until the extension of light hours by electric light bulbs when those in charge tried to extend the hours of work. The same union that fought for a day off now wanted two days off and a limit on the hours of work per day. All was reasonably well in the world until a fellow by the name of Babbage invented a computer.
Things went quickly downhill or uphill, depending on your view, since then.
Some entrepreneur somewhere found that if he opened his store to sell snacks on the Day of Rest, people would wander in and buy a candy bar or ice cream. Soon he and his cartel were selling everything in the corner stores. People with automobiles discovered that they could purchase gasoline on Sundays; bootleggers would sell a bottle of moonshine any day of the week and it was not long before everyone but the highly religious were buying and selling every day of the week. Some ventures endeavoured to appear to honour the old religious rites of the day off by only being open for business on Sunday afternoons (afternoons beginning at 11 a.m.) but a loss in profits soon had them thinking that was nonsense.
The people in the computer business attached themselves to the telephone industry and soon people could talk (and do business) 24 hours a day, every day. Stores tried staying open all day, every day, some with a measure of success, as workers now had shifts and different ‘Days of Rest’. Shift workers had different hours of work and play and they were wont to shop at their convenience. Enter Amazon and other on-line stores.
The our new Canadian Prime Minister set a parameter when asked why he wanted women to hold 50% of his cabinet seats had replied: “Because it is 2016!” Why in 2016 should we not shop and work on those old days off? As long as we still have a little time somewhere in the week to have time for a game of toss the hide ball, kick the pig’s bladder or hit the frozen horse pucks with a stick, does it really matter?
There are some businesses who need to catch up to 2016. The Banks realized the unfairness of charging interest on accounts seven days a week when they were only open 5 days a week and working ‘Banker’s hours’, so they physically kept their doors open longer and gave their computer-literate customers the ability to play with their money 24 - 7. But why does the biggest money market in the world continue to operate on the old five days, dawn to dusk routine? Why aren’t stock markets open 24 - 7 all around the world so people can play with their stocks, bonds and futures?
Fire fighters and Police work 24-7, why not other municipal services? I was going to mention hospitals but ours is going in the opposite direction of making themselves less accessible. Doctors and Dentists need to get their clinics organized to 2016 standards for certainly medical emergencies pay little attention to either the calendar or the clock. Maybe even the churches need to forget their old regimens and throw open the doors, if not 24-7, at least dawn to dusk every day.
Schools use expensive infrastructure only a few hours a week- maybe it is time to extend the hours and days so children and adults can attend at hours more convenient to the modern age. No doubt many students would appreciate afternoon and evening classes, thus avoiding that early morning rousting by a guardian who themselves may have non-traditional work hours. Shift work for teachers, Yikes!
Perhaps there will be some who dislike the modern trends based on their religious belief but they are likely the same people who have a cell phone in hand every day that requires someone, somewhere, to be working 24-7. Food, services and supplies arrive at all hours and we expect them - even demand them, despite the changes needed in the hours of work and rest demanded of others. It is 2016 and we need to adapt to modern times.
This is something our modern politicians - at all levels - need to get into their heads. We voted for change in our recent election - for a party that realized it was 2016 and change was needed. In the great oligarchy to our south people are realizing that they too need a change in the way they run their affairs. We need to be 24-7 in all our affairs, not to hide away in the darkness of superstition, tradition and fear of change.
Perhaps our local politicians who are reviewing how our city functions need to get outside that old dawn to dusk box and into the 24-7 world of 2016. Just saying.
