Those 2 hours difference between communism and capitalism

I already forgot what it is like to propel yourself out of the office early like a rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, skipping a meeting or leaving your report unfinished because of the gift you have to buy for your friend’s birthday and all stores in town are closed after six. And you finally make it to the store, panting, it’s twenty to six, you’ve got enough time to choose something more thoughtful than a chocolate box and have it wrapped but, as you step in, the shop assistant or owner looks at you in outrage and contempt, as if you just tried to sexually harass her dog and she wants to eat your guts with mussels and fries, and bitterly spits out 'Mais, Madame, we're closing in 20 minutes...'. You gave her the look of death, the defying I-am-not-leaving-until-I-get-my-f***ing-gift gaze. If only I could strangle her. Not only her. Also Karl Marx, bring him back to life and show him what he's done to Belgium. Forget Russia, Karl, there're three Prada stores in Moscow and as far as I know they're open until nine. Let's get focused on Belgium: would you please shout out loud once and for all that what you wrote is a bunch of crap?

Now things should be different. Yet I can't get my mind around this paradox: if NY is the city that never sleeps, how come department stores close around 8 and thus the sudden urge to buy new sunglasses I got yesterday at 7.30 went unfulfilled?