Editorial: Shut out, off our trolleys at Easter

Easter really snuck up on us this year.

Cripes - Easter really snuck up on us this year.

It seemed to come out of left field at increasing velocity ... then, suddenly, there it was. Good Friday and the supermarkets are closed - all of them - and I am reduced to rationing out the last drops of milk.

How had I missed it? How had I failed to notice all those Easter egg displays on my daily trip around the well-stocked aisles?

Maybe I was still recovering from the start of the new school year (but that was 10 weeks ago); maybe I need to study a religious calendar more often. Certainly I need to get that new app that sends you a warning when the supermarkets are thinking of shutting.

Having spent much of my life in a British city that was pretty much 24/7 and you could happily go shopping at 2am in the morning, I have struggled to adjust to New Zealand's more laid-back approach.

And to all those statutory holidays. Kiwi workers don't know how lucky they are with so many legislated annual days off, even if there are some - like journalists - who have to keep the cogs of business turning, even on Easter Sunday.

The debate over Easter trading laws - some shops have to close; some can remain open - has been well aired, and there are good arguments on both sides.

We should all certainly make the most of those days off - but, gee, it is tough not being able to fill the trolley on the one day you don't have to be in the office.

And then on Saturday you spend 20 minutes trying to find a car park as the whole of Wanganui has turned up, desperate to stock up pantry and fridge.

Good Friday ... a day to say a prayer for the fast-food outlets.