Monday, January 21, 2008

Lawbreaker


I know this is another country. It's not the
United States. The culture is different. The
ways of doing things are different. But...and
this to me is a big but (no, not butt...get your
minds out of the gutter). Why do businesses
close so darn early in New Zealand. It's maddening!
Most retail stores close at 5:00PM and whole malls
close at 7:00PM. When do people shop? I know
Americans are all about the shopping, but when do
Kiwis shop...for even the necessities? It boggles
this Thriving Capitalist's mind. Kind of like the
Romanians not celebrating Halloween in Transylvania.
It makes one scratch one's head. Speaking of head-
scratching maneuvers, Lynn and I were driving down
Colombo in Christchurch this evening. Colombo is
probably the busiest street in the center of town.
As we were marveling how traffic-free it was at
7:30PM, I managed to blow right though a Red Light
on a pretty busy intersection. If it were busy,
there could have been no way to have run it and if
I did, I probably would have been sideswiped. So
it's kind of a chicken or the egg scenario. No lights
or sirens followed me and to be honest, I don't
think anyone besides a few tumbleweeds blowing down
the deserted streets saw me do it. Regardless, I am
now a lawbreaker in New Zealand. However, this is
literally a case of what harm did it cause anyone,
except my conscience. Now if the businesses stayed
open later here...that might be a different story.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

How long are you guys in Christchurch for? Are you on vacation still?

Tom said...

I leave on the 5th for the Ice. Lynn took off this morning with Lisa W, Jed and the new Safety woman.

Anonymous said...

How did you luck out with not going down until the 5th?? Gee...what WILL you do with your time? Maybe.....go shopping during the daytime? Closing the stores early is definately an irritant. How can you be done with shopping by 7? Sheesh!

Anonymous said...

I don't think you ever really get used to all the shops closing down early! I've been in NZ 8 1/2 years and I still long to go shopping after I put the kids to bed.

I can't belive you're heading back to the ice already. How long were you off? My goodness time flies.

Anonymous said...

you're a lawbreaker?
hmm. i've got to start screening my friends better...
erika