social.noyu.me

had to tell a friend visiting Berlin that no she cannot buy a 100W USB-C charger on a sunday in germany lmao

@hikari and here I’m just annoyed that it’s illegal to buy groceries on holidays

imagine if it was illegal to buy groceries on sundays too…

@hikari actually I should clarify this because it probably sounds like a joke but it’s not

in most cities here it’s illegal to sell groceries on statutory holidays. the BIAs (business improvement areas, like… chambers of commerce I think?) lobby really hard for that, to drive more business to restaurants.

so we have stores that are open 24/7 but not holidays. we have stores that are open on holidays but you’re not allowed to buy groceries at. and we have stores that say “fuck the rules”, sell groceries anyway, and presumably pay the fine every time

it is, frankly, sort of absurd

@demize it's effectively illegal to sell groceries in germany on sundays and official holidays, with some exceptions (train stations)

@hikari yeah you see I hate this much less than “the BIAs have bribed local politicians to ensure restaurants get all the business on holidays”

@demize well you see

restaurants are exempted

@hikari oh.

@demize @hikari (this is a federal law, though berlin basically enforces it as little as possible. the result is that chains are closed, but many corner shops are open, and the enforcement people will only turn up and tell people to close if someone complains i.e. they legally have to)

@hikari @demize what

@astraleureka @demize i mean people who don't pay people to work tend not to care very much about employment laws