And if you think it is archaic to refer to said industry with that out-of-fashion appellation... well, what of the state of Massachusetts keeping stores closed by enforcing a law that dates back to the 1600s?
Questions of right and wrong are timeless, of course - but here we are not dealing with absolutes; simply with the dilemma store owners face on Thanksgiving Day; should I open or stay closed? More on that lunacy - in the comments section!
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Massachusetts Eyes Defiance of 'Blue Laws'
Nov 25, 10:21 PM (ET)
BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts' attorney general is launching an investigation into several supermarkets that opened on Thanksgiving in defiance of the state's Puritan-era Blue Laws.
The laws were passed in the 1600s to keep colonists at home or in church on Sundays. Parts of the laws, such as the ban on Sunday liquor sales, have been repealed, but a prohibition on most stores doing business on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's Day, has not.
"If these stores want to open, there's a way to do it: Change the law," David Guarino, a spokesman for Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly, told The Boston Globe. The office didn't say what sort of penalty the stores could face.
The Globe reported that at least six stores, all Super 88 Markets, were open on Thanksgiving. One Super 88, in Quincy, shut down after a visit from police that day.
Reilly's office had earlier warned the Whole Foods supermarket chain not to open on Thanksgiving after a competitor complained. Wal-Mart, Family Dollar and Big Lots also received warnings.
Super 88 officials said they didn't know about the warnings.
"We don't celebrate" Thanksgiving, said Rudy Chen, a former manager of a Super 88 in Chinatown who now works at the chain's headquarters. He said the store he managed was always open on Thanksgiving and no one complained.
And I thought for a split nano-second there that BLUE LAWS were honoring former Boston Bruins coach Don Cherry's late puppy love, BLUE... and that hence, the laws would have been about animal care... maybe anti-cruelty to pets...
Lord Knows we need more laws and more ENFORCEMENT of the laws in THAT AREA...
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