Dear Black Friday Shoppers,

If you're reading this then it must be that time of year again where corporate America and capitalism is at its peak season – the mall hours are extended, there are deals and sales that only exist on a particular day, and advertisements designed to pull you into something that's only here for this season and this season only.

Specifically, the infamous holiday to retail workers everywhere – Black Friday.

Let me lay down the logistics for you. Typically, Black Friday starts at the dusk of Thanksgiving and carries onto Friday very late at night. This is where that name is derived from.

I understand to many that Black Friday for any other person like yourself may be a family activity that you partake in after your Thanksgiving meal, camping out in front of a store to snag that item you've waited all year to be discounted or any early start to some holiday shopping. For us retail workers, it means cutting our Thanksgiving dinner short with our families, working long, hard shifts, and dealing with you, the holiday shoppers.

Now to put things into perspective from a veteran retail worker of many holiday seasons, here are a few things you should keep in mind.

1. Be patient with us.

Please be patient with us, please. It's one of the busiest times of the year and while there may be plenty of us working at the moment, each and every one of us has our plates full with tasks and other holiday shoppers to attend to as well too.

We try our best to give each holiday shopper the attention and exceptional customer service they deserve but sometimes the truth is you're not the only one we're helping and please don't expect us to go out of our way just for you. I say it with love, we are purposely not trying to avoid you but around this time we will see hundreds and hundreds of people and we cannot dedicate endless time to just one person in the midst of the holiday rush.

We would never get anything done and fall behind, truthfully. Each retail store is different but usually we'll hire a team of seasonal workers that have had a month or less of training and in those busy moments they may blank out and not know how to proceed further so please bear with us. We are never intentionally trying to make your experience at our store horrible.

2. I don't make the rules, I just work here.

We try our hardest to get the best deals for you.

Sometimes the "buy one, get one" or "percentage off" is out of our hands. Prior to the holiday season, we do try our best to vouch for better deals and discounts with someone higher up in the company as suggestions but a lot of the times it's already set in stone and nothing more than just a suggestion from us workers.

Please do not, ask me about my discount and if you could use it. It really put us retail workers in an uncomfortable position but we do try to our best to see if there's anything else we could do for you even if a lot of the times there isn't anything else that could be done.

If we happen to run out of stock for something do not get upset, and please don't tell me I ruined your holiday for you and your family. Oh yes, it happens a lot more than you think. We're still going to try our best to figure something out for you but sometimes it's just out of our hands.

3. Know your cashier etiquette.

There are a few unspoken rules that you should always follow when you've reached the cashier of a store and you're ready to check out.

One, if my hands are open to accept your payment, do not put it on the counter. I promise my hands aren't going to steal your money or bite you.

Two, if you're going to put something on hold be sure you're going to come back for it or at least let us know you won't be coming back for it. Most of the times stores will only hold things for a set amount of time or even during the season they won't hold it at all. The fact is, if someone does want to purchase that very thing and you don't come back for it and let us know, it's a loss for our store and someone's holiday as well too.

Three, be nice. Treat us like the humans we are rather than a retail working machine. There's this stigma that we're robotic, money hungry individuals but we're more than just that. If we say hello and try to be personable with you at least say hello back and acknowledge us. Saying "thank-you" and "happy holidays" truly goes a long way.

4. If you know me personally, I'm too busy to chat.

If you personally know someone who's working retail during Black Friday or the holiday season, don't approach us. We just don't have the time to talk to you about how our life is going and how your life is going, at this very moment.

I'd much rather dedicate time outside of work to play catch up with you when everything isn't so hectic. Even if we're super close pals or you're family, more than likely I cannot offer you my discount during these times when the store is flooded; It creates this whole thing of why you were able to get the discount and another customer wasn't.

We also see hundreds of people during our shift especially during the holiday season and so much is going on at that moment that I can't spare a few minutes and I am sorry. Believe me, as much as I'd like to talk to you rather than working during the busiest time of the year, I can't afford to get lectured from my boss about friends or family visiting and taking up my time that I could be spent on another customer.

5. Be appreciative.

A lot of us work long hours; A lot of us don't get to see our families during the holidays, especially if we've gone away for college and our retail job require us to work. A lot of us are tired, so please be appreciative of us. Don't try to make our days harder at work than it has to be.

Don't try to steal something out of my store, if you pick something up and don't know where it goes please feel free to ask, don't just throw it back in a random area, and do not wreck the piles of items we have displayed in search of something on the bottom or in the back –– I will help you!

We're here to help in every way possible to make sure your holiday season is the bee's knees. We're here! Sparking up a conversation with us goes a long way, it helps our days go by faster and allows a connection to form between us and you which makes the whole experience better as well as helping out with your holiday needs.

These are just the main few insights I'd like you to realize that goes through our minds every year. We want everyone to have a happy holiday just as much as we do. So this Black Friday and holiday season please keep these things in mind.

Sincerely,

A Retail Worker