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How do you plan to spend the Dec. 26 holiday?
- More shopping
- Going to the movies
- Hanging out with family
- Sleeping in
- Visiting friends
- Not a day off for me — Working
Monday, Dec. 26, is a federal holiday this year because Christmas occurred on a Sunday on the 2016 calendar.
That means most people will be off from work on Monday — and local, state and federal offices will be closed as well. There will be no mail delivery, and your local library and banks are probably closed, too. And even if it's scheduled for Monday, your garbage and recycling won't be picked up.
But in the fine shopping tradition of Americans, most stores and malls will be open on Monday, along with restaurants and movie theaters.
If you're looking to do returns or buy something for yourself that you didn't get for Christmas, the big malls will be open: the Stamford Town Center, the Danbury Fair Mall and the Westfield Trumbull Mall. They'll even open early, for after-Christmas sales and bargains.
You should call ahead before you head out anywhere else on Monday.
And beware of icy or wet travel conditions on Monday if you do head out. Icy drizzle is possible early, with rain in the forecast for most of the day.
If you're taking the train on Monday, Metro-North will operate on a Saturday schedule, with additional Shoppers' Specials trains added to the lineup.
The Dec. 26 holiday is a tradition in some other countries. A tradition known as Boxing Day is celebrated on the day after Christmas in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth nations.
Boxing Day is a secular holiday, and in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, it is primarily known as a shopping holiday, much like Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) in the United States.
It's also a big sports day in those countries, with big football and rugby matches in the U.K., test cricket matches in New Zealand and South Africa and the start of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in Australia.
Why Boxing Day? According to Wikipedia, there is no clear reason for the name. But the Oxford English Dictionary dates the term in England to the 1830s, "observed as a holiday on which post-men, errand-boys, and servants of various kinds expect to receive a Christmas-box."
That occurred the day after Christmas because servants would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, then had the next day off to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts, bonuses and sometimes leftover food.
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