When I was a kid in America, stores closed at night, especially in the small towns I lived in. So, what did we do?

We planned our shopping out and bought the things we needed when stores were open.

Still, when I move to Europe as a young man, I found attitudes quite surprising. People in Berlin were passionate about shop workers having the right to lead a normal life with normal hours.

The idea that stores should be closed on a Sunday was entrenched. Berlin wasn’t even a religious city. I don’t think any of my neighbors ever went to church.

But all of them insisted that everyone in the city had a right to take Sunday off and relax. Even if it put a crimp in shopping.

I wish we Americans valued workers like that.