Well, working in retail (in Ramsey) I have made the effort to open on the designated dates for the 3 years that I've had my shop in Parliament Street. To date, I've not exactly been wowed by the crowds during this time and I'm beginning to wonder if there is any point to it. I'm sure there are a few shops that do very well during this time but I bet there's a heck of a lot more that don't. I don't really mind working the extra hours (was a 13 hour shift yesterday though) but I do mind the fact that most people just automatically go to Douglas for their late night events instead of supporting the traders of the town they live in (this applies to Saturday's too, which have dropped off a lot in recent times). I've always tried to get some nice stuff in for Christmas too and again this year was no exception but as usual, the only people I had in were merely using the extra hours to do their normal shopping instead of buying presents for others!I've never done an actual count of the shops in Ramsey but I bet it numbers around 80 or so and the vast majority of them are open for these nights (and Sunday afternoon too - which I believe is a total waste of time) but somehow, it never seems to be busy these days. I remember my first Christmas here and I went late night shopping in Ramsey and the street was mobbed. Last night, you couldn't find a parking space but there were not that many people at all (heh, perhaps they were all in the pubs!). Late night shopping in Guernsey was absolutely mental (I mean really, really busy) but I've never seen this in Ramsey in the last 3 years (I wonder what it's like in Douglas?). The thing that gets me is the fact that, year after year, the day keeps changing and the number of late nights changes too. This year, we have only one official late night (last night) and one Sunday afternoon. Last year, we went head to head with Douglas (waste of time). Who knows what next year will bring. Still, at least the Ramsey Town Band were playing, which is always nice (they kept us entertained today too).Ah well, at least I got a lot of paperwork done last night, and managed to give myself the day off tomorrow.Anyway, that's my rant over with, no doubt I'll be back for another one after Sunday 19th (afternoon opening)/