The infamous Black Friday - the day after Thanksgiving where it's socially acceptable to go shopping at two in the morning to find the best discounts at your local mall. While most people can appreciate the over dramatic chaos and traumatizing fights over clothing that nobody really needs, people often forget about those who have to leave their Thanksgiving dinners early, put on their name tags and clean up after the large crowds and the piles of clothes left on the floor.
When I was in high school I worked in retail for three years, which meant three years of working never ending Black Friday shifts. I worked for Justice tween brands in the King of Prussia mall, also known as the second biggest mall in America. Here are each of my years working Black Friday shifts split up into three sections so people can finally understand what's behind the scenes.
Year 1: 2010, Grade 10.
I was new at this and legally could only work a four-hour shift, so this year wasn't as extreme as the following two. I arrived in the middle of the day, around 2 p.m., to take over for another girl who had been there since midnight. The crowd was insane. There were mobs of people everywhere in the store sorting through things to find their own size. I was put on the floor, which was instantly a bad idea. Within minutes of using a pole to get a shirt down from the top row of the wall, I was trampled to the ground by a round of angry moms looking for a pink fuzzy vest in a size 10. Needless to say, I ended up on the ground with the pole and a pile of shirts on top of me. For the rest of my shift, I was placed behind the register to deal with the never ending line that started out the door.
Year 2: 2011, Grade 11
This year I knew what to expect. I had done Black Friday once before and I was no stranger to its turmoil. I came in much earlier this time and had an eight-hour shift. My managers did not mess around this year. They put me right on the register where I stayed busy for the entire eight hours of my shift. I had never seen such a crowd in my life. People were bickering and picking fights with each other over who got in line first and who found more clothing items to buy. But the people at the registers were even worse. They loaded their piles on the counter and with each customer I dove into the never ending load of cloth. The customers watched me like a hawk; making sure I didn't ring anything up twice or miss a discounted item. The minute I made any kind of mistake I was crucified because they "didn't have time for my clumsiness." Needless to say, those were the longest eight hours of my life.
Year 3: 2012, Grade 12
This year I was ready. I had the thirteen-hour shift starting at midnight when the store opened for the holiday. I left my Thanksgiving company at 11 to help my manager open the store. There was already a mad rush in front of the locked gate, so I had to sneak in to keep the crowd out of the store. We got everything ready and at midnight we let the chaos begin. This year I stayed on the floor because I knew I could handle it this time. I stayed there all thirteen hours and helped customers on the floor. Once the first rush of people cleared out it was 3 a.m. We began to replenish the store with things that we ran out of and making sure all of the hanging and folded items looked full for the next round of people. We had to find ways to keep ourselves awake and alive at 5 a.m., when our shifts weren't even close to being finished, but we were running on no sleep. The second wave came and then the store picked up once again as it had in past years. It was easy to keep busy until my shift ended, but it was extremely difficult to stay awake and clean up after people's messes. The end of my shift came near, and from the minute I got in the car I was passed out until the next day.
So what's the moral of the story here? During your Black Friday shopping rush, always make sure to appreciate those who are working hard to make sure your Black Friday experience is somewhat pleasant because there's sure won't be.
