Can I tell you why I hate Yom Haatzbanut (as we jokingly call it in my house)?
The law is that the stores MUST close. You’ve never seen Geulah empty on an afternoon as I saw it yesterday. Not only that, but the day prior is Yom HaZikaron, another day that stores/businesses close. Now I needed to get a prescription, but little did I know that the pharmacies were closed from 2:00 that day, in part because of YHZ and in part in preparation for YHA. Most other stores were closing at 4:00. I’m sorry, but that’s not part of the day. Why can’t they close at 6? On the 4th of July, I know that businesses like retail are open a plenty. Yes, employees get paid extra wages for that day, so why can’t it be optional for businesses to open and at their discretion? Maybe they would want to make a YHA sale. Even food stores are closed part of the day, so you’ve got to plan ahead to buy bread and milk the day before. With it coming out on Thursday, so my local store opened at 2:30, but he had to get everything delivered yesterday because they weren’t going to get any deliveries today.
Crazy, crazy, crazy. I don’t know who made up the rules.