Breaking the Law

Sundays in Switzerland are very quiet. And that is how they like it. In fact, there are a number of customs and some actual laws to help keep it that way. For starters, it is illegal to employ staff on Sundays, which is why most stores are closed. There are, of course, some exceptions, but generally there is no grocery shopping or shopping of any kind on Sundays. It is also illegal to hang laundry outside or wash your car on a Sunday. It is considered an offense to mow your lawn or vacuum on a Sunday, or generally do anything that makes too much noise.

Many of these laws are in place because most Swiss people live in apartment complexes and share walls and plumbing with other people. Incidently, it is also illegal to flush the toilet after 10pm.

So what do the Swiss do on Sundays? It seems that many of them visit relatives and friends. Others spend weekends skiing in the mountains. They also eat a particular kind of bread on Sundays called Zopf. It is a braided bread that everyone buys on Saturday to eat on Sunday. Although I don’t always go shopping on Saturday, and sometimes we find ourselves without much selection in our kitchen. It’s a good thing the pizza delivery place in our town is open on Sundays! (Though it costs about $48 to get two pizzas delivered, so we try not to do it too often.)

When we are at home on a Sunday, I find myself at a loss. So, today I broke the law and vacuumed and did a bunch of laundry (though I don’t hang it outside). And then, we did what most other Americans do on Sundays, we fired up our Apple TV and watched football.

I’m feeling rebellious, so I think I’ll go flush the toilet before I go to bed.

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