tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post4271962702582809009..comments2024-03-28T09:22:36.967+13:00Comments on Offsetting Behaviour: The Easter AsylumEric Cramptonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15831696523324469713noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-31041078927635492432015-04-10T16:47:27.383+12:002015-04-10T16:47:27.383+12:00"This is now a [European] country. The 2013 C..."This is now a [European] country. The 2013 Census recorded more than half of New Zealanders as being [European]. How much longer before we can hope for a referendum to do away with these crazy [Te Reo Maori] restrictions?"<br /><br />Good question. I'm glad someone had the courage to ask it.FCnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-14940519534847387822015-04-10T14:52:07.053+12:002015-04-10T14:52:07.053+12:00We wanted to have a family drink with our eldest s...We wanted to have a family drink with our eldest son on Monday before he returned to Wgtn. Wandered over to the local swill-dispenser only to be told that we had to order food, and no, chips weren't good enough.<br /><br />Got in the car and *drove* several km to an establishment that serves a significantly better class of beer and yes, chips were fine.<br /><br />Government policies seem somewhat contradictory here...Glenn Boylenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-30720236543903844782015-04-10T11:43:57.438+12:002015-04-10T11:43:57.438+12:00100% with you Eric. There are plenty of universit...100% with you Eric. There are plenty of university students or others who don't feel the need to be with their family on Easter who would be happy to make some extra money by working. <br /><br /><br />This seems like yet another example where people can't see the difference between allowing choice and forbidding choice. At the moment we prevent people from working on Easter. If we accept that some people would prefer to work (and get double time or whatever is applicable), then those people are being disadvantaged.<br /><br /><br />If we allow people the choice, we're not making them work. They can still choose to work, so nobody is disadvantaged. Those who choose to work are, however, advantaged. Allowing choice almost always makes the world better. <br /><br /><br />An analogy would be student unions. In the (bad) old days you were forced to join a student union if more than 50% of your student body voted to want one. Some people saw that as choice, but I'd say that a large proportion of people were unhappy at their lack of choice. The new situation, where if you want to be a member you join, and if you don't want to be a member you don't, is vastly preferable. Working on easter should be like that - if you don't want to you don't, if you do want to then you do. Easy.PaulLhttp://Technpol.wordpress.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-32031310519173732452015-04-10T11:24:04.158+12:002015-04-10T11:24:04.158+12:00Yuk, what a horrid experience. I hope you're n...Yuk, what a horrid experience. I hope you're not paying full price for the bach.<br /><br />I really don't understand the bleating about retail workers getting days off. Everyone has annual leave, which they can choose to take at the same time as friends or family when it suits. Every time a family has to travel for a wedding or funeral, the whole family takes time off simultaneously; why is this so unusual and precious that Easter needs special protection?<br /><br />The miserable person below, who implies that their Thursday supermarket shopping is somehow comparable to your unexpected linen emergency, is quite wrong to assume that I take my days off for granted. I would rather not have them; I work in a team, and scheduling the team's work around a block absence is seriously disruptive and stressful. If we were each free to holiday when we choose, rather than all at once, we'd be much more efficient and less stressed.Feminist Optimalnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-68629205945059598222015-04-10T10:10:44.033+12:002015-04-10T10:10:44.033+12:00We have statutory holidays where shopping isn'...We have statutory holidays where shopping isn't banned, and where workers can decide whether to take the day off or get extra compensation in lieu. Why doesn't that suffice?<br /><br /><br />As for focus: screwups like that can happen anywhere with random-draw probability. Setting policy making it impossible for anybody to deal effectively with random-draw screw-ups, that's a general purpose failure.Eric Cramptonhttp://offsettingbehaviour.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-41474268254344903552015-04-10T10:01:02.541+12:002015-04-10T10:01:02.541+12:00I had exactly the same experience as VMC -- in fac...I had exactly the same experience as VMC -- in fact one of the ladies on the checkout was nearly crying because she could have two days so close together at home with her school-aged kids and husband. (She normally worked 10 hour days on Thursday to Sunday because her husband could look after the kids at the weekend). Regardless of your religious views perhaps allowing service workers to have three days a year is worth doing, in fact why should we not have a "closed to everything" day once a month?<br /><br />BTW - I think your issue is less about not being able to buy sheets and towels and more about false advertising and taking money without providing the services at an acceptable level. So I am puzzled about why you made your post about the former, and not the latter?Marynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2830084253401570472.post-23309934018692030662015-04-10T09:27:58.246+12:002015-04-10T09:27:58.246+12:00Because I was better organised than you, I found m...Because I was better organised than you, I found myself in the supermarket on Thursday and asked the checkout people what their weekend plans were. I was struck by how a whole bunch of them (its a small local supermarket and everyone can hear everyone) turned around and said how great is was that they would get a day off at the same time as their friends and family. A little treat that we used to take for granted. So 'yes' I think its miserable of people like "feminoptimal's" to complain about others getting a couple of days off on days which I am pretty sure they take off for granted. And 'yes' I suspect you have a fair-trading complaint with your accommodation provider.VMCnoreply@blogger.com