Dear Jac: You are open all hours – except when you’re on strike. Is going on the picket line a sensible option?

I promised a couple of retailers that I would test the theory of whether going on strike will engender sympathy from shoppers for the ‘plight’ of the independent. I put the word in inverted commas because I know a fair few retailers who enjoy being their own boss and being the boss of others, meeting and greeting shedloads of people every day and relieving all of them of some of their money. However, I must also acknowledge that others, often through the sheer bad luck of having to trade in the shadow of a superstore or even its little clone, are suffering the consequences.