American left stunned by Australian rule that he experienced over Easter break: ‘Weird’

An American living in Sydney has shared the ‘weird’ rule he experienced this Easter weekend that he never had at home.

TikToker a_summer_abroad, who describes himself as a “Texan living in Australia,” received hundreds of comments on Saturday after sharing a video about a unique set of retail rules that gave him culture shock.

“There’s something strange about Australia, at least Sydney, I’m not sure it’s all Australia,” he began.

An American TikToker has shared a strange rule that Australia has for Easter (photo)

“So this country is super secular, at least compared to the United States – and when I say that, in the US you assume someone is religious unless they say otherwise; In Australia it’s the opposite, you assume someone isn’t religious unless they say otherwise – but still.

‘This very non-religious country. Easter weekend. Sydney – I don’t know if it’s the whole country, but certainly Sydney – the whole city just closes at 10am and nothing is open except Maccas and a few bottle shops, but every bar has to close at 10am.

“And I don’t know if it’s the whole weekend. I hope it’s not, but yeah, anything shutting down at 10am on a Friday is pretty wild.”

He said nothing is closed for a religious holiday in the “super-religious US,” and described Christmas as something different because businesses closed because “no one would come,” not because it was “the law that they had to be closed.”

He said he didn’t understand “giving everyone a long weekend and not allowing them to do anything.”

“Different cultures, I guess,” he said.

Hundreds of people responded, with the most liked comment letting him in on the Australian secret that ‘we are religious about our days off’.

“Long weekends and holidays are our religion,” said another.

“And on Good Friday we eat fish even though we are not religious,” wrote another.

“I don’t understand how the US, as a religious nation, doesn’t support an Easter long weekend. Australians wouldn’t give up these holidays for anything!’ wrote another.

The TikToker said that even though Australia was a ‘very non-religious country’, the entire city is closed for the Easter long weekend

In the photo: Easter Mass in Melbourne

One commentator had him tell the truth that in most states there were laws around trading hours on Good Friday, Anzac Day and Christmas Day.

In reality, NSW has some of the strictest Good Friday laws in the country, banning the sale of takeaway alcohol and restricting licenses from 12pm to 10pm.

As for whether shops can open on Good Friday or Easter Sunday, NSW Fair Trading said restricted trading exists to “balance the rights of employees to spend leisure time, the opportunity for retail workers to earn additional income to earn, and the expectations of the public’.