Because it's the last Sunday of the year, and more Americans are worshipping at the idiot box (overtly professional football… and not, you losers) in preparation for a night of drinking, debauchery, and baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad musical performances than anywhere else.
- A company that wants to open an outlet actually on the property of, and a hub for, public transportation — especially in a major US city with a higher-than-typical proportion of residents/visitors whose "day of worship" is Friday and/or Saturday, or even not at all — it needs to be open on Sunday. This isn't about imposing upon anyone's "free exercise," because anyone who really wants to both serve that transit hub and maintain a never-on-Sunday… preference (after several tries, I substituted a rather less disapproving descriptor there) can just rent a location across the street, on private property where no government will be entangled with or implicitly endorse that preference.
When I very infrequently want "fried chicken" I go for KFC — Korean fried chicken (the semicelebrated "waffle fries" are gnarly at best anyway). Preferably from a vendor without a history of selfrighteous owner-virtue signalling; no, I don't shop at Hobby Lobby, either. Tastes differ, so you Chik-Fil-A fans can go have a (too often) soggy, (always) oversalted mess if you want. The point, though, is that if a company intends to take advantage of "the public" on public property, it needs to serve the whole public — not just those whose travel schedules/needs match the company owners'/controllers' worship schedule.
Take the carefully mischaracterized culture war back to the bloody pulpit and keep it there. That way anyone who can't recognize the sixteenth- and seventeenth-century European version of culture wars can have it rubbed in their faces and maybe, just maybe, learn to recognize it.
- It's not a very long journey from illusory "free exercise" issues to illusory "free speech" issues. In my experience, the trip is dishearteningly short — and largely delineated by hypocrisy.
- No "Lost Cause" or "Manifest Destiny" crap here, and especially no more hagiography of traitors. Please. It's long past time to admit that slaveowning ancestors were assholes unworthy of veneration.
- Which is not the only US-style hellscape worthy of rejection. (Drivers in Paris: You're next. You've got nothing to be proud of; you make French waiters look courteous.)
The obvious solution Over Here is to do what my home state used to do: Base vehicle licensing fees on gross vehicle weight… but be aggressive about it. And add a surcharge for any permanently-mounted bicycle rack or rooftop cargo carrier, or gun rack…
- It's bad enough when one's personal devices and/or general internet presence are tracking you, but many people would draw the line at their cars. This problem is not new; think about it out at your New Year's Eve party.