Tuesday 2 June 2020

Bloody Pentecost.



Having been property-bound for the past two weeks (other than a short trip to buy bread), I'd been looking forward to getting out and about and seeing people other than the dear Lady Magnon.

Off I trot, then find that my bloody supermarket was closed on account of 'Pentecost' (whatever that is).

I do know that it's some religious festival, but it's hardly Christmas or Easter, and why they think it's necessary to close the shops; I really don't know.

This is the THIRD year running that I've gone shopping on the day of Pentecost, and the THIRD time I've found everything closed. I do wish that someone would say "Cro, it's Pentecost on Monday, and everything will be closed", but they wouldn't dream of it.

It's about 25 Kms to my local Leclerc (not the one above), which means a 50 km round trip of wasted time and petrol. I was not happy.

I shall return this morning.

37 comments:

  1. Is it not marked on French calendars?

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    1. I didn't look. I use my computer calendar, and I suppose that's all English things. No doubt I will make the same mistake again next year.

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  2. Well apparently it is the descent of the holy spirit on the disciples after the ascent of Jesus, held on the 7th Sunday after Easter. Our supermarkets would not do it but I have similar problems with Good Friday every year.
    Today I have learnt something new, thank you.

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    1. The shopkeepers all know about it, but no-one sees fit to mention anything to us mere shoppers.

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  3. Holy Spirit! You don't know what Pentecost is? I take it you speak in jest.

    As to the actual date (it's seven weeks after Easter - Sunday and Monday) it's a moveable one - like Easter, not Christmas.

    Your story reminds me of, and I thought someone was having me on, when I learnt (two days beforehand) that this year's first May bank holiday had been moved from Monday to Friday. Apparently this was decreed a year ago on account of VE day giving people a chance to celebrate. Of course, it was all a bit of a flop considering the Virus restrictions of movement.

    Postponing the bank holiday didn't really make any difference to me personally - still, one doesn't like to feel like an idiot.

    Look on the bright side: You had a nice drive and will have another one today. Just make sure you don't leave your shopping list behind.

    U

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    1. It was a very pleasant drive, other than a lot of detritus on the roads following a bit of a storm last night. Luckily someone had preceded me, and taken their chainsaw with them!

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  4. It is what we used to know as Whitsun and we would have the Whit week school half term. Then the date got fixed and called Spring Bank Holiday. (Whit Sunday moves around of course depending on Easter). It is,a very important Sunday in the Church and represents the birthday of the church.

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    1. Whit Sunday and Pentecost are of course the same thing in case I didn't make it clear.

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    2. I do remember Whit Sundays, but I don't think I ever knew what they were. Amazing for someone who attended Cathedral services every day for four years.

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  5. I feel your pain! Happened to us a couple of times.

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    1. It was open this morning. No Cucumbers on sale... I wonder why.

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  6. The huge number of bank holidays on which the shops close and the lack of information about that and other events are things I find so infuriating and at the same time charming about life in France.

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    1. After 50 kms driving, I didn't find it too charming. All my own fault, of course.

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  7. I am surprised that you did not spend the day in prayer - remembering the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers of Jesus Christ while they were in Jerusalem celebrating the Feast of Weeks, as described in the Acts of the Apostles.

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    1. I don't really go in for all those spooks things. I'd rather remain ignorant.

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  8. Just testing, I couldn't make a comment yesterday, something about only team members?

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    1. Ah, it worked, good, I thought you'd blocked me for a minute Cro!

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    2. It seems that I'd blocked everyone! I was trying something that I'd hoped might block a certain troll.

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  9. You can't miss it here. Our three day holiday is this coming weekend and I have no doubt we'll be inundated by all the rich Athenians in their big black windowed jeeps and mercedes, though there is the problem of where they'll all stay. Only one hotel is open, as far as I know.
    Our big supermarket will probably be closed but every other little-market will be open and buzzing.
    Trouble is that Pentecost isn't on the same day every year so you can't put it on your alarm-list. I'd warn you myself but it would be too late.

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    1. Could you remember to remind me next year? I'd be extremely grateful.

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    2. It will be 24 May next year. Linda 's Greek calendar is different to ours and yours because they celebrate Easter later. Write it down now or I'll try to remind you.

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    3. Thank you. I've actually marked it on my computer's 2021 calendar. I'm now prepared.

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  10. Christmas Day and Good Friday are quite enough religious holidays and closed shops, although it also happens on our Australasian war remembrance day morning, ANZAC Day. It can be such fun to see people rattling doors or staring at closed shops in amazement.

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    1. I didn't get as far as venting my anger on Leclerc; but I might in the future!

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  11. We all used to go watch the Whit Monday processions in the old days - kids standing on the backs of lorries without any safety precautions.

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    1. I don't remember that. In my Surrey village we only celebrated Bonfire Night.

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    2. I always think of Larkins The Whitsun Weddings. Processions and the like seemed a bit of a Northern thing to me. We never had them here. Perhaps it was a big thing for mill workers having the weekend off.

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    3. Is this the same as the Maypole Dance? I have vague memories of children holding long ribbons and wrapping them round a vertical pole. I must have been very young but still remember being fascinated.

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    4. No. That was May Day, a heathen festival.

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  12. I remember Pentecost as being a Holy Day of Obligation. That meant that after a long day at work, coming home to a family of six, getting dinner on the table and being exhausted, I had to go to church to listen to a priest who preached the same old sermons that were always too long and all I could think of was that I just wanted to take my shoes and bra off and go to bed. I remember that I finally eliminated that day from obligation even if I was going to be damned to hell.

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    1. It doesn't sound too joyous, hence, I imagine, the decline in attendences.

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  13. To make disparaging remarks about Pentecost or someone's religious beliefs is tantamount to them making disparaging remarks about your Mother. It hurts deeply. There's enough hate and separation in this world, mainly because we've stopped abiding by the Golden Rule.

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    1. If you find whoever has made these 'disparaging remarks', I hope you have a word with him/her directly.

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  14. I think France abides by its religious festivals much more than we do here in the UK. So 'when in Rome.......'

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  15. Pentecost is not a religious holiday here but it is a special day in the Christian Calendar and I have to say that I found your "bloody Pentecost" a bit offensive. You have lived in France for many years so I'm a bit puzzled as to why you wouldn't know about everything being closed by now.

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  16. Things close here for Easter, but not for Pentecost (or Whitsun, if that's the name more familiar to you). If you know when Easter is, add 50 days to the date for Pentecost.

    The date that tripped me up at my last location was Ascension Day. When i worked in a city where there was a strong Amish and Mennonite influence, many shops closed for Ascension Day. I finally remembered it always fell on a Thursday, after Easter and before Pentecost.

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