Western Isles ferry service

[denisegordon]

Have we got anyone here from the Western Isles in Scotland? Do you really not want the ferries to operate on a Sunday? Do you want to keep the Sabbath sacred or is it just the community leaders?

[alijangra]

Hello Im from the Isle of Lewis. I would love the ferries to sail on a Sunday. There is a society up there called 'the lord's day observance society' and unfortunately many of the members are in prominant positions in the community. Things are changing slowly eg pubs that serve food are allowed to open, some people put their washing out, and a Danish (I think) guy has opened his store/petrol station on a Sunday now. We can now buy our Sunday papers on Sunday. ps I dont live there now but my parents and sisters are still there so I visit regularly.

[jno]

it all sounds pretty repressive... and yet I'm always a little bit sad when a community loses something that makes it unique, in the interests of becoming more like everyone else (as many people have pointed out, you can't tell one of the country's High Streets from another these days.) But it's up to the community to decide, I guess.

[jno]

PS I should have made clear I'm not from that part of the world at all, just a sentimental outsider.

[alijangra]

I still feel sentimental about my Sundays as a child, but times have changed and we must move on. As one member of staff from Calmac suggested, what is the difference between a car, a bus, a ferry, a plane? They are all modes of transport.

[Grunty]

This seems to be a miniature version of the attitudes throughout the world where followers of various religions seek to impose their beliefs on others.

[spacechimp]

I'm sure we'll see clergymen and "heathens" alike using these Sunday ferries before too long.

[Gef]

People should have the choice of what to do on a Sunday. If they want to go to the pub or the supermarket, or take a ferry then that is up to them.
Others should not dictate what they can or can't do.

[alijangra]

gef the problem is it has alwys been that way, implimenting change is difficult when so many oppose it.