Dear Editor,
I have an issue I would like to discuss with your readers. First let me tell you a little about myself.
I have lived in St.Thomas since 1973 (moved here at the age of 6) and went to grade school through high school and attended the University of the Virgin Islands briefly. I have not left the island and now joined the family business, a retail store here and am proud to call myself a St. Thomian.
I am married with two very young children, who were both born here, and am learning the trial and tribulations of parenthood and the importance of the family environment. I love the island, with all its ups and downs, and am proud to call this home.
Since 1989, when Hurricane Hugo hit the Virgin Islands, we welcomed the cruise ships coming to St.Thomas every Sunday. But now, after almost 10 years with ships coming every Sunday, my staff and other business owner friends and managers and I have grown weary of the ships coming on Sundays, especially in the summer season.
I have discussed the issue with other retail business owners and managers of somehow arranging for the cruise ships to be brought in on another day other than Sunday. We are all in agreement along with our many, many local employees that have been working with us for many years that we would prefer not to work on Sundays.
But we have a cruise ship every Sunday. We are aware that if the ship (particularly speaking of the Carnival Cruise Lines' ship Fascination) does not come on Sundays, it is possible that this ship could come on Friday instead, without changing the itinerary. This is the only ship scheduled on Sundays for the entire summer season. All that would be done would be inverting the order of the islands that the Fascination visited.
I'm sure that we would rather all open our businesses Monday through Saturday and all close on Sundays. There are several reasons why we would like the ships moved from Sundays for the summer season:
* Sunday is not a holiday in a workweek, so we all work for the same salary as any weekday. There is no difference in the days as to our payroll.
* My staff would love to go to church where the family values begin.
* We need to spend more time at home with our families, especially on Sunday when most of the island is. It is great to plan a day off when the rest of your friends and coworkers are off the same day to plan an activity together with them and their children. It is a day when almost all of the retail industry, tour operators and taxi drivers can take a day off together and "recharge our batteries." To spend time with our whole family at home as to be able to guide our children right and wrong. How we are learning that is so important. To give our children the understanding and nurturing to stay off the streets and out of trouble.
* This summer will have several days where there will be no ships on a weekday, including Friday. Therefore, like last summer, many stores will close for the day or open for selected hours and there will be no regularity in town hours for the locals and tourists in the hotels on the weekdays that there are no ships.
If this change could be accomplished, downtown could be open normal days throughout the summer, Monday through Saturday, and not the sporadic hours we had done last summer.
We do not think this is a major request to ask, especially just for the summer season. Imagine all the downtown merchants, Havensight merchants, tour operators and taxi drivers working fully energetic from Monday through Saturday. We all can plan on a day of rest, activity, a proper day to attend church services with the family or a day to get together with our friends and families.
Imagine the change of morale when we all come back to work together on Monday. We will be more polite and excited to come back to work.
I request and urge the powers-that-be to recognize this issue and watch the quality of life improve here in my home, St.Thomas. We think this could only greatly improve the atmosphere in the business community.
George Chugani
Downtown Retail Business Manager
St.Thomas
