Read - Listen - Enjoy!
A
short story from Hungary about shopping.
Shopping
is a part of everyday life, and this used to mean Monday to
Sunday in Hungary. But, not any more. Now, things are different.
The law has been changed, and now Sunday has become a
shopping-free day. And, shop workers have gained most of all.
Speaking
to a lady who works in a supermarket in Budapest, I was told that the
new Sunday opening law has made an enormous difference to her
life. Her Sundays are now hers to plan and do as she pleased. And,
planning has become necessary for lots of other people,
too. Another shopping day has had to be found. But, according to
everyone else that I spoke to, this was no problem at all. There
are, after all, 6 other days to chose from. In fact, for most
people, the new shopping law has made no difference at all.
But,
the new law must have made a serious difference to the supermarkets
and hyper-markets involved. In fact, this is the second change of
law they've had to contend with within the last 18 months.
First of all, their right to sell tobacco products was withdrawn in
favour of small independent tobacconists. And now, they've lost
Sundays. And, again, to the advantage of small family traders.
Small
family grocery stores are exempt from the new Sunday trading
law. These small shops are still allowed to open whenever they want,
even around-the-clock if they wish. And for them, the new law
has come as a blessing. Sunday is now their busiest day of
the week. But, of course, there is no way that these small shops
will ever be able to cater for the normal weekly shopping demands of
an average Hungarian family; and so, this new law presents no real
threat to the supermarkets and hypo-markets. They will
survive.
And,
Hungary will survive, too. Of course, this new Sunday opening law
has started a discussion. But, one thing is clear, it is better to
go swimming than working. It's more fun on the beach, and, if you
really run out of milk for your coffee, there's a small corner shop
that's not far away!
The
Hungarians believe that Sunday is special, and, I think they're
right. Sunday's for not going shopping. And, why not?
Vocabulary
advantage
– Vorteil
blessing
– Segnen
contend
– kämpfen
difference
– Unterschied
enormous
– riesig
exempt
- befreit
gained
– (gain/gained/gained) - gewinnen
law
– Gesetz
survive
– überleben
threat
– Drohung
