Ten at night is closing time for a large part of the retail city. Shop doors in most malls shut around now on a weekday, with the restaurants and cinemas holding on later, so a countdown to ten is frequently a countdown to whether an errand happens tonight or waits until tomorrow.
It is also the changeover for night shifts in hospitals, hotels, ports and control rooms, which means an alarm at this hour is as likely to be a wake-up as a wind-down — the reverse of what the same time means in most of the world.
For anyone with family in Europe it is a convenient calling hour, since ten here is a comfortable early evening in London or Berlin. The countdown always targets the next 10 pm.
Common questions
What closes at 10 pm?
Shop doors in most malls on a weekday, while the restaurants and cinemas stay open later.
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