So I've been debating whether to make this my regular blog for more than just traveling. But for now, I just thought I'd post this here because it felt just a touch "other worldly".
I live in Mormonville. Normally, I don't really need reminders of that, but every once in a while, something happens that smacks that point home again with gusto.
Scene: Saturday, 11:57 pm, Smith's grocery store, the weekend of the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The entrance is bustling with mostly young folks, mostly in eager groups of mixed gender, with a few suits and ties and dresses wandering here and there. People are rushing in, lining up at the registers. Surely this place closes at midnight, and they're running in to grab their last-minute items before they're kicked out the door. I overhear one girl saying quietly to her friend, both running into the front entrance, "Hurry! We only have 5 minutes!" Naturally, I put a little hustle in my step too, just in case the "Open 24 hours" sign means, as is sometimes the case in Utah, "Open 24 hours except on Sundays". I need some items for an alfredo pasta dinner the next day, and I don't like shopping on Sundays. Something about a day of rest.
I walk in and hurriedly grab a few items, and after a few minutes, a somewhat tired- but young-sounding male voice announces over the store speakers: "It is now after midnight. We can no longer sell any beer, wine, or any other liquor."
My thought: ah, last-minute beer runs. Those girls didn't strike me as boozers, but hey, you can't judge a book by its cover, right? So I guess I can take my time, they're still open. No booze after midnight? Who came up with that? Mormons?
He continues over the speakers, "Thank-you for shopping at Smith's..." There's a small pause, then he continues with just a faint hint of well-seasoned sarcasm or irony, kind of like old, worn-out shoes that have become oddly cherished, "...on this lovely Sabbath morning."
Only in Utah. OK, maybe in Israel, too. I don't know.
So the bustling grocery store was being rushed by two groups of people: those getting their last-minute alcohol stockpiles, and those rushing to buy items before God struck them down for defiling the holy 24 hours from midnight to midnight. And I'll bet there were even one or two who were rushing for both reasons. Utah's quirky that way.
6 comments:
Only in Utah... I must admit, I get a twisted twinge of satisfaction thinking I may have helped produce this entertaining post... ;)
Quite funny laws we have here in Utah. You can't buy alcohol at the grocery or liquor store on Sundays, but a restaurant or club? No problem!
Is it Sunday that's the prohibited time, or just after midnight every night? I should look that up 'cause they also announced at Safeway in Georgetown that because of the hour, they were locking up the alcohol aisle. :-)
K, you did, indeed. What was I running to the store for? Oh, it was groceries for dinner, which was...was that for the alfredo? Man, that was good stuff.
I used to work at Albertsons which closed at midnight so I'm not sure if there is a time restriction during the week but I do know there is a law in Utah restricting sale on Sundays. I had to take back many a beer from the checkout stand.
"Blue Laws" against selling alcohol on Sundays have existed since colonial times, though most states have gotten rid of them. Some blue laws prohibit any retail sales at all, while some are against hunting on the sabbath. Sunday prohibition is not really an "only in Utah" thing, though Connecticut and Georgia, the two other states with remaining legislature in place to uphold it, are each backwards in their own right. Still, business booms at fast-food restaurants and other 24-hour non-alcohol-vending businesses at midnight on either end of a Sunday in Utah County.
Funny Story: My friend Heather had me distract Wal-Mart employees on a Saturday night at quarter 'til the day of rest while she grabbed the intercom and intoned, "Attention Wal-Mart shoppers. The time is now 11:45. You have fifteen minutes until the Sabbath. Please bring your purchases to the front of the store now to avoid sinning." Good times.
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