COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Whether it's spent at Sunday brunch, taking a Sunday drive, or reading the Sunday paper, chances are you have a Sunday ritual of your own.
It's the first day of the week... and many people's favorite day of rest. But Sunday is also the one day when we're told what we can't do.
You may remember before 2008 it was illegal to buy alcohol on Sundays. There were a lot of other laws focused around that one day of the week as well.
Those age-old laws that have managed to stick around for decades are called "Blue Laws."
Pioneer Museum Director Matt Mayberry said these ordinances were made when Sunday was God's day, and only that.
"If you've ever heard the term "true blue" as in someone who sticks to their principles or doesn't change, that idea of being "true blue" and blue laws comes from the same concept," he said.
Back in the 1800's you couldn't kiss your baby on Sundays. You couldn't even tell a joke. That's because pioneers had other things to take care of, and sunday was time for community.
"In the pioneer era of our community's history there were certain things you had to do regardless. You had to care for cattle, you had to do things just in order to keep alive," Mayberry added.
Most of those laws have been repealed but one still stands: In the state of colorado and 13 other states, it's illegal to enter into a contract to lease or purchase a car on sundays.
It's a blue law left behind. So why hasn't it been repealed?
County Commissioner Sallie Clark says it's because the business doesn't welcome the change.
"Generally if you have a law that needs changing, it comes from the industry itself. But in this case, I don't know that the industry has come forward and said that we really need it changed and that's usually change laws or to look back in history and say this is something that just doesn't make sense today," she said.
Dealerships are all closed, but the salespeople don't come in either. They say the blue law is a benefit for both employees and their customers.
"If you talk with customers it's kind of a nice day for them to be able walk the lots, walk the inventory and not have to talk to anybody," Richie Carnie, Sales Director of Phil Long explained.
Carnie added that their dealership doesn't mind the law telling them to stay closed. In this world of 24/7 commerce and online shopping, sometimes a day off the lot is a mandatory time-out.
He said his friends in the liquor industry who are now open Sundays don't see an increase in their profits. Their total is just spread over one extra day.
"I think we focus so much on making money that we've strained the family relationship in extending hours. I think the businesses that have extended hours to try to make it better for the customer have found out it's not, but it's hard to put that genie back in the bottle," he said.
In 2005 state senators tried to abolish the antiquated laws but were met with harsh opposition.
Some people like the idea of keeping Sundays timeless. Some just want a day off of work. Some see it as a historic influence on our day-to-day life.
"To me it's a little bit of an artifact it's kind of like what we keep at the museum," Mayberry explained, "it's a little bit of what may be considered trivia that helps us understand who we are and where we came from."
While other blue laws have faded away, this one hasn't seen a call to change.
Unless the business makes the call to change, it doesn't seem this age-old ordinance will be repealed.
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