Afternoon buzz going just fine now,
For those that do not know what Boxing is, here:
Boxing Day is a
public holiday celebrated in the
United Kingdom,
Canada,
New Zealand and
Australia and many other members of the
Commonwealth of Nations on
December 26, the day after
Christmas Day;
[1][2].
In Canada, Boxing Day is observed as a holiday, except (in some cases) for those in the retail business. Boxing Day and the days immediately following are when many retail stores sell their Christmas and retired model products by holding clearance sales. Some shoppers will line up for hours at night (sometimes before midnight and after midnight on
December 26) for retailers to open their doors. Except in Quebec, retailers often open their stores earlier than usual, such as 6 or 7 am. Some retail companies internally refer to the sales week after Christmas as the "thirteenth month." (See
Boxing Week.) It is similar to
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, in the
United States. Boxing Day 2005 was the single largest economic transaction day ever in the history of Canadian commerce (according to Visa). Individual big box stores can even gross over
CAD$1,000,000 on one single Boxing Day.
As an exception, most retail stores are not permitted to open on Boxing Day in
Atlantic Canada, nor in some
Ontario communities. (The
Nova Scotia government eliminated its ban on Boxing Day openings in 2006; however, most retailers voluntarily remained closed. The ban was reinstated in 2007.
[11]) In these areas, most stores offer the same specials on December 27 that they would offer elsewhere on the 26th. This distinction is not well known in central and western Canada.
[12]
In
Alberta, employers have a choice of giving their employees the day off on either Boxing Day or
Remembrance Day, which falls in November.
From a sporting perspective, Boxing Day in Canada has many implications. It is usually on Boxing Day when the
IIHF begins the
World Junior Hockey Championship. This is a significant event for Canada and
Hockey Canada which have done extremely well at this particular international event. Boxing Day is also the start of another international hockey tournament: The
Spengler Cup. This tournament, usually played in Davos, Switzerland, along with the World Juniors, are aired on the two big sports networks in Canada (
TSN and
Rogers Sportsnet).
sorry for my ignorance.. but could you explain boxing day? and do you all have off for it??
just curious!! thanks