So I’ve finally managed to get my derriere in gear and get after some serious housecleaning. And it soon occurs to me that the old piece of paper trick just isn’t going to cut it - I need a real dustpan. I’m 48 years old and I’ve never owned a dustpan; OK, hippie times are over and I can allocate some of the savings towards acquisition of my very own state-of-the-art dustpan (what’s the word there? Anything new, or is this pretty stable technology?).
And, I can get it today! I remember in the mid-80s when the retailers of Texas went into open rebellion and refused to shut down on Sunday. The state couldn’t realistically enforce the blue laws, and they were soon gone (1985, IIRC). This has caused me to wonder about blue laws in the rest of the country - did they all go in a flash in the '80s, or are there still some areas that have 'em?
(And posting this and then going to shop for a dustpan will successfully defer the housecleaning for another 45 minutes.)
You can buy a plastic dustpan or a metal dustpan. You can buy a metal dustpan with a little rubber ridge at the end that makes it easier to sweep stuff into it.
Or you can wild and get the Disneyland-style dustpan that has a long handle on it and pivots when you put it on the ground. Those are better for outdoor use.
I have a dustpan that is designed to withstand a nuclear blast. There may be widescale death and destruction, but dammit I don’t want to be stepping in any broken glass!
In Indiana, you can’t purchase packaged alcoholic beverages or automobiles on Sundays. Of course, that just means you have to go to a restaurant or bar if you don’t have stuff to drink at home, and car lots will be filled with people looking at cars today. Yep, much less sinnin’ around here …
On the dustpan front, I like the kind with the big handle you can fit your foot in. That way you can hold the dustpan and sweep without bending over or crouching.
It is still illegal for liquor stores to be open on Sunday in Minnesota. My first job was because of this law. I worked in a liquor store in Hudson, WI. I kept the cooler stocked with beer for all the Minnesotans who crossed the St. Croix to buy booze on Sunday. Since most of the Minnesotans who came over were the ones who lacked the foresight to buy enough alcohol in their own state during the rest of the week to make it through one day, it was rarely the classiest clientele that visted us.
Yes, I’m on the other side of the river from sewalk where today hard liquor must be bought by the drink and new cars can only be admired (actually, I believe the law affecting car dealers says they can be open on Saturday or Sunday, but not both). Liquor laws have always been handled separately but I don’t understand how car dealers missed out on the blue law emancipation in '85.
I bagged a see-through plastic dustpan with a rubber leading edge; and its handle clips on to the broomstick handle! What’ll they think of next? Of course, after reading BobT’s reply, I realized I probably should have at least scoped out The Sharper Image. I imagine by now they’ve got ergonomically balanced cast aluminum jobs with retractable rubber, no-slip handgrips and embedded floor-clearance lighting for a mere $129.
But now that the dustpan issue is past (thanks for y’all’s input), back to the blue laws. Outside of liquor laws, are there still states and provinces that prohibit the sale of goods on Sunday? Was there a massive repeal of these laws in the '80s, or was that just Texas?
Sucks to be where ya’ll are at. Here in my little town in Georgia you can buy all the alcohol you want 7 days a week, almost 24 hrs a day but they like their hours I guess. There’s only one car dealership here that’s open on Sunday’s but they suck and noone ever goes there b/c they try to rip ppl off. They’re open from the time church lets out until 9 pm. The dustpan. I prefer the Walt Disney ones so I don’t have to bend over…kinda lazy
Granted, between Official Code of Georgia 3-3-7, 3-3-20, and 3-7-2, there are one heck of a lot of exceptions and “notwithstandings” and discretions of the this, that, and the other; but, in the Big City of Hotlanta in Georgia, you sure can’t just waltz in to a grocery store or a “package store” and buy beer or demon rum on “the Lord’s Day”.
Or perhaps this is a little town in the former Soviet Georgia?
Don’t know about liquor stores—I’m teetotal—but as for general retail, I remember the stores in Ohio opened on Sunday in the early to mid-70s. It must have been '73 or thereabouts, IIRC.
Here in the not-so-great state of SC, stores still abide by the blue laws. If I’m not mistaken, most retail stores in my area open at 1:00 PM on Sundays. A couple of years ago, I stopped by Wal-Mart on the way home from church, and was dismayed to find only the grocery-side doors were unlocked. Once inside, I was surprised to see that they actually had a rope going across the edge of the grocery side bordering the clothing, and people were actually standing at the rope waiting for it to be lowered. At precisely 1, employees removed the ropes, and you could officially buy clothes and lawn mowers. A freaking rope! Apparently, the grocery stores can be in operation, but none other. I haven’t been back to WM on Sunday afternoon since, and generally try to stay away because I don’t feel like dealing with 500 people trying to check out with only 6 registers open, but still laugh when I see those hooks bordering the grocery/GM sides. Target, anyone?
Actually all of Bergen County is covered by Blue Laws, and apparently its still retained for the very reason that Annie stated - so that local roads can be free one day a week of all the traffic generated by the malls.
Granted, between Official Code of Georgia 3-3-7, 3-3-20, and 3-7-2, there are one heck of a lot of exceptions and “notwithstandings” and discretions of the this, that, and the other; but, in the Big City of Hotlanta in Georgia, you sure can’t just waltz in to a grocery store or a “package store” and buy beer or demon rum on “the Lord’s Day”.
Or perhaps this is a little town in the former Soviet Georgia? **
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Here in Valdosta, you can’t but just a hop skip and a jump to Remerton you can. Also on all Air Force bases it doesn’t matter what day of the week is. I know this for fact being in the Air Force and stationed here at Moody
IIRC, military package stores are always closed on Sundays. I’ve lived on military installations on and off since 1968 and I’ve never heard of a Class VI store open on Sunday.
In DE, you can’t buy alcohol on Sundays. Sucks when you’re at the beach, but then again, you can traipse down to Ocean City and get some. No bottle deposit, either. Several years ago the legislature passed a law allowing Sunday sales in December because of how the holidays fell (looking at the calendar, it must have been either 1996 or 2000–can’t remember the logic behind it). That makes one wonder what the point is the rest of the time…
In some counties in Maryland, you can’t buy cars on Sundays. Several years ago, a bill was introduced to allow this in Howard County. It was opposed by…car dealers. They complained that current law gives their employees and themselves a day off. Nevermind the fact that they could still take Sundays off under the new law even if their competitors didn’t.
I would imagine most of the rest of the blue laws exist for the same reason–not because it’s the Lord’s day, but because it provides a vacation day when you don’t have to worry about your competition.
I remember not being able to buy beer on sundays in NC in the late '80s while I was stationed at FT Bragg. One sunday after driving a friend down to Pembroke Pines to his girlfriend’s house, I tried to get a 6-pack for when I got back to the barracks. The beer lockers were chained shut. I asked the clerk why they were chained. The clerk responded that it was sunday. I looked him in the eye and said “and…” The comeback was something along the lines of “holy day”. I thought about arguing about repressive religion, separation of church and state, et all, but I just went and bought gas…$6.66 worth of gas. love the look on the clerk’s face when I paid
