I think if people read my posts properly they'll find that I said many of the shops/industries that open late are 'well known' for having staff that aren't knowledgeable and don't care or where the srevice is poor, I never said everyone that works in these industries or late shifts was useless.
Think Halfords, B&Q, Curry's, Dixon's, etc etc etc
As for needing to shop 24/7 another way to do things is plan your life a little and get things in advance before you need them.
many places you mention are food shops, petrol stations etc etc You don't require special knowledge, experience and skills form the staff in these so they will tend to be staffed by either young people sytarting out in life or semi-retired people etc etc. The moment you have bright, intelligent, skilled and knowledgeable staff and tell them they need to work late shifts and weekends in order to keep customers happy many will leave the industry and lead to poorer standards of service in LBS's.
My partner teaches so the thought of working saturdays and sundays every week would be ridiculous, I'd never see her. Why should I do that just to accommodate a few people?
Rant Over