Me and hubby: Yes
Our couple friends: No
There goes the debate on why and why not. I don't want to go into the detail of what we had discussed, but what strikes me is about their thinking: If there is something they don't want to do, other people shouldn't do as well. Reason being if some people are allowed to do that, they will have to force to do it one day. A very selfish thinking, but that shapes the mentality of the French:
- If I don't want to work on Sunday, other people who want to shouldn't be allowed to do that
- If I don't want to go study, let's block the school/University so that others can't study too
- If I'm not happy with my pension fund, let's bother others to show them how important our job is
Based on this mentality, even there are people expressing their willingness to work on Sunday (work more to gain more), people who don't want to work on Sunday fight to prevent this from happening. Their reasoning could sound absurd, but sadly it could happen in France:
If my coworker willing to work on Sunday, that means he works harder than me. One day my boss will think I'm lazy if I refuse to work on Sunday. So we shouldn't let this happen, Sunday is for family gathering and nobody should work on that day, except those in the emergency and leisure industry.
And they are not wrong. In real life, if everyone in your department work until 9pm everyday, would your dare to leave work at 5pm? If your boss asks you to work on Sunday and everyone else said yes, would you dare to say no?
When I was studying in Malaysia, I worked part time in a department store. My supervisor who has married would arrange students to work on Sunday so that those who have family didn't have to work on Sunday. I was very happy to work on Sunday as it was the day where most sales occurred (more sales = more commission), plus I lived with my family so I see them everyday and eat with them for every dinner. But this might not work in France. If students work on Sunday, they might not have chance to go home to see their parents.
On the other hand, shops operate on Sunday can boost the purchasing and stimulate the economy. Directly and indirectly it will create more jobs. Let say you have an option: You can get a job that requires you to work on Sunday, or stay unemployed. Which one would you choose? Me definitely choose to work.