On the One Hand, I Respect It...
... on the other, it sometimes drives me crazy!
While many businesses in Recife manage to keep a semblance of normal working hours, there is a whole slew of them that operate on a pretty haphazard concoction of days and hours. For the most part, commercial stores follow a more or less set pattern. If the store is in a mall, it is usually open until 10pm Monday through Saturday and until 8pm on Sundays (malls are one of the most sacred places in Brazil!). On the other hand, if a store is not located in a mall, its hours are generally until 6pm Monday through Friday (not so useful to me) and until 2pm on Saturday. Closed on Sundays. Okay, so far so good. Except the part where they keep their doors locked even if they are open and don't always keep an eye open for approaching customers, but I digress....
It's the restaurants that can truly cause me to shake my head. On the one hand, as the title alludes, I am impressed that business owners here are not slaves to their work, as they often are in North America. Shorter hours means more time at home or doing other stuff. But ... as a client, I'm wondering when the business owners imagine that I am going to be able to frequent their business. First off, you can forget about eating out on a Monday (and sometimes Tuesday). Very difficult! You can also forget about eating dinner at a lunch place or lunch at a dinner place. Very few places are open for both. So if you want to try a place but it is far from work and only open for weekday lunches, too bad! Still other places will be open only for dinner during the week, but will open for lunch on the Friday and the weekend (this makes more sense to me). But, by far, one of the best examples of haphazard hours is an Italian place near here which is only open for dinner on Friday and Saturday and lunch on Sunday. Nice life! Another place not too far is open for dinner on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. On Fridays, it is open for lunch and dinner. Why just Friday? Why not Saturday and Sunday as well? Are they trying to tell me to eat at home more?
No wonder the beach and mall are so packed all the time!
It's the restaurants that can truly cause me to shake my head. On the one hand, as the title alludes, I am impressed that business owners here are not slaves to their work, as they often are in North America. Shorter hours means more time at home or doing other stuff. But ... as a client, I'm wondering when the business owners imagine that I am going to be able to frequent their business. First off, you can forget about eating out on a Monday (and sometimes Tuesday). Very difficult! You can also forget about eating dinner at a lunch place or lunch at a dinner place. Very few places are open for both. So if you want to try a place but it is far from work and only open for weekday lunches, too bad! Still other places will be open only for dinner during the week, but will open for lunch on the Friday and the weekend (this makes more sense to me). But, by far, one of the best examples of haphazard hours is an Italian place near here which is only open for dinner on Friday and Saturday and lunch on Sunday. Nice life! Another place not too far is open for dinner on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. On Fridays, it is open for lunch and dinner. Why just Friday? Why not Saturday and Sunday as well? Are they trying to tell me to eat at home more?
No wonder the beach and mall are so packed all the time!
posted by Karen @ 5:52 p.m.
3 Comments:
It's the inconsistency that drives you mad--never knowing what is going to be open when. I spent a year living in Sevilla. Once I realized that banks closed at noon, that stores closed between two and five, that cheap lunches were non-existent, and that dinner was never served before ten--I could learn to adapt.
It's true. Once you memorize the times, it's not so bad!
I am not sure why, but I have not yet been to Sevilla. It's definitely on The List.
I was living in a small town in the USA, where you could find about 8 supermarkets opened 24/7.
Now I’m living in Switzerland and the business hours here are crazy! A lot of places close their doors for lunch, even Post Office. If there is a holiday on Monday for example, the shops close their door 1 hour before on Saturdays. Or, if you want to go out at night you need to beware, because at 10, is very hard to find a bar with its door opened!
Btw, I got here by "next blog"!
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