Black Friday: It's the day millions of Americans have waited an entire year for. The day when humans have the right to take on some animal-like qualities and (literally) crush their competition. The day when sleep is suddenly an afterthought. The day when those running shoes you bought half a decade ago become your new best friend. Oh, and you have the chance to save a few bucks here and there on a few purchases.
This renowned "holiday" has become the consumer's favorite shopping experience, the retailer's most profitable days, and the employee's largest nightmare. What few people realize is what goes into planning and executing a successful Black Friday as a whole. Last year, I worked as a sales associate for the retail giant Best Buy back home in Texas. Our holiday planning started at the end of September, when the store began hiring seasonal employees to work during our largest rush of the year.
In the past decade alone, planning and staffing has changed dramatically, though. Even just five or 10 years ago, companies would have been crazy to open their doors on Thanksgiving, one of America's core holidays. Now, the tables have turned. It's a rare sight to see the lights off in a store on Thanksgiving Day. With the constant demand of lower prices and higher quantity of items, companies began to take note and started opening earlier on Black Friday, and eventually Friday turned into Thursday night. Somewhere along the line, Thursday night turned into Thursday afternoon, and before we knew, it Thanksgiving was almost nonexistent.
Some people, myself included, did not mind working on Thanksgiving night after all the food was gone and all of the family had left. Others, however, were mortified to hear that their turkey dinner was going to be cut short. Regardless, all 100+ employees showed up around 5 p.m. on Thanksgiving Day to prepare for the store opening one hour later. Sure enough, a line had already formed around the side of the building. Oh, the things people will do for a deal.
I spent my evening directing traffic into and out of the store, escorting lucky customers to pick up their limited-quantity items, and occasionally taking a breath. Of course, I saw my share of mini-disputes unfold in the store when only one Xbox was left, but the police handled that. Then there was that one guy who threatened to sue if I didn't give him a 10-percent discount on a CD, but who still uses CDs in the first place? Working Thanksgiving was definitely an unexpected turn of events, but our store family bonded over the rush of people throughout the evening. We even had our own Blue Shirt Potluck in the break room, complete with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green beans, and gravy!
Eventually, the time came to close the store at 1 a.m. and reset the shelves for when we reopened for the real Black Friday at 8 a.m., but somehow, throughout the constant bustling and running and occasional scream, I found myself extremely content. I was happy to be here, working with people who felt just like family. My Best Buy crew was incredible to work with, and I'm pretty sure they're the sole reason I survived working Black Friday. Other retail and fast-food employees are not as lucky. They may have to work all day on Thanksgiving and through the night into Black Friday.
For this reason, I humbly request that all of you lovely people please check yourselves should you choose to participate in Black Friday shopping this year. You are lucky. You are not required to work on the busiest day of the year. You are not required to miss spending quality time with friends and family who only come around once a year. You are not being yelled at by inebriated customers who can't complete a single coherent sentence. You are not having to deal with angry people blaming you for long waits. You have the privilege to be able to spend (and hopefully save) some money, and you need to recognize that not everyone else does. So, if you decide you want to celebrate Thanksgiving Day by shopping, please remember that:
1. The holidays are not an excuse to be rude to other customers or to employees,
2. Most retail workers you will encounter are working for double pay in order to get by,
3. Individual people (aka employees) do not have control over their store's policies, so the last thing you should ever do is yell at them. Please, for the sake of all that is good and holy, do not make a fool of yourself by yelling at a college student who is trying their best to help ring you up and get through this one day.
Remember that customers and employees alike are human too. We all have emotions, we all make mistakes, and we're all on this earth playing this crazy game called "life" together. Be patient, be kind, and most of all, remember to be loving this holiday season.
