Will Australia Have a Weak End?

Can you remember the song that went, “Everybody loves Saturday night”? 

Well then, can you remember when those words were meaningful and appropriate? 

I can! 

Sometimes, old-fashioned, even seemingly over-restrictive ways of doing things, turn out to have not been too bad, after all. 

Saturday night used to be a time when, irrespective of your age group, you could often mix socially with your friends and enjoy yourself. Most people did this, of course, without needing to resort to mind or mood altering drugs except nicotine and alcohol. Most single young folk did this without the crutch of either of those substances. 

People who worked in essential services, such as police, prisons, ambulance, hospitals and public transport, were required to work on weekends. However, with respectful rostering techniques, they were still able to have the equivalent of half of their weekends off. That was, and still is, a reasonable situation. The people who enter those fields, do so in full appreciation of the essential nature of their jobs. The people in these jobs used to be the exception. 

Most of the other workers enjoyed a full weekend off every weekend. They would knock off on Friday afternoon or evening, and only return to work on the following Monday. Even most of those who worked in retail shops, enjoyed a weekend extending from Saturday lunchtime to Monday morning. Some people who worked in food services were more akin to essential services workers. 

When a public holiday abutted a weekend, most workers enjoyed (and greatly appreciated) the extra day that made what was referred to as the “long weekend.” 

The important thing is, that the weekend was a time when families and friends could look forward to seeing each other and enjoying each other for a reasonable amount of time. Week days were for work, and the weekend was for play. 

One of the major differences in those days was the statutory regulation of trading hours. Retail trading and hotel bar services were quite restricted. Nowadays, of course, most things are de-regulated in terms of trading hours, or so liberally regulated that they are virtually 24-hour-per-day businesses. It is bad enough that with only a smidgen of knowledge, one can navigate between hotel bars virtually around the clock, but as well, most retail stores have long daily trading hours seven days per week, and some of them even open all the time. 

One major consequence of virtually open-ended trading hours, is that more and more workers are having to work at hours that restrict their normal social intercourse, and even consume their weekend hours to the point where they do not enjoy a true weekend. Worse still, it means that those workers, and their friends, whether or not their friends work other than Monday to Friday hours, are denied the opportunity to socialize and relax together. 

As with numerous other “social advances,” the liberalization and even de-regulation of trading hours has had unintended social consequences. Perhaps it is time that we swallowed our pride, shouted “enough is enough” and went back to the restriction of trading hours. After all, people have only one income to dispose of; they cannot spend without limit. 

If we do not remedy this situation, then the social consequences may be dreadful, and Australia may indeed head for a weak end.

 

Battler