There is a full-scale supermarket by our station and beginning 1 Feb it extended its business hours to 20 hours/day. Now it's open from 5 am to 1 am next day. This is outrageous. Do we ever need such a long shopping day? Some would say "Yes," followed by "It's so convenient!"
I'd say: "Let's just give up our labour-based time chart altogether and retire into the tranquility of NIGHT."
Just by limiting the business hours of such stores we can save huge amount of electricity. And the night would be quiet, dark, beautiful, dangerous.
I am often scared to enter into a builiding where every structural function is electric/electronic. Our Liberty Tower in Ochanomizu, e.g. It's lit like a candle, and once the power is out it's nothing more than a huge tomb stone.
What bugs me about those who preach "convenience" is that such convenience is but another side of our VERY alienated labour. Let's NOT work that way!
But then I did drop in at the store at 12 midnight to buy myself a can of beer and a bag of oranges...
