We all know the horrors of Black Friday shopping. Deals on top of deals, sure, but what about the pushing to grab the last jacket, the never-ending lines, the parking a mile away because all the other spots are taken, and the insane late-night/ early-morning hours for the “best” deals? Some of us tough it out and embrace the chaos, others of us shake our heads from our couches at home and decide to watch the bold ones get trampled by the crowd on the television instead. But that’s only one side of the story….the shopper’s side. Have you ever wondered what it's like for the employee?
It may seem simple to say it must be exhausting. Having to work on Thanksgiving or insanely early the next morning until several hours after the sun sets. Having to run around and interact with what seems to be jillions of customers all trying to get the best deal. Some may imagine that to be their worst nightmare. I know I would have agreed with them before having done it myself.
Having worked at Macy’s over this past Black Friday, I’m here to bust the myths about retail being hell to work in around the holiday season.
The first blessing I experienced was that I was able to choose my hours for the shift I wanted over Black Friday. I breathed a sigh of relief when I found out I didn’t have to come in before the sun rose. Plus, working on Thanksgiving Day was optional. Maybe that’s the way it is everywhere, maybe that’s the way some will say it should be. But for me, that was an added bonus on top of simply getting the job. The flexibility of working when was convenient for me over this hectic time, well, I simply couldn’t complain.
Next, my coworkers, being in the same shoes I wore, are great. When you have someone standing behind you at the next register, who woke up even earlier than you did, and is smiling as she folds clothes and rings up customers, you can’t help but catch their smile yourself. My coworkers have been awesome; knowing that I am young and new at this, they take me in like their daughter and check in on me frequently to make sure I am doing alright. It’s really encouraging to be cared for in that way, taken in as a member of the family, and it’s definitely not something I would have expected to experience at the Macy’s counter before I got the job.
But what I found to be the best thing about working in retail, especially on Black Friday, is the atmosphere. Christmas songs are playing, and of course that means I’m humming along as I take off security tags and print out gift receipts. And people have this glow and smile in them that’s unlike other times of the year; it’s this contagious holiday seasonal thing and I just love getting to take in other people’s joy of gift-buying and deal-saving and family-gathering and friend-time. On top of that, I didn’t expect so many customers to check in on me—what time did you get here? When do you get off? How has it been, crazy? Thank you so much, I appreciate you taking the time to be patient with me. Every single time they would catch me off guard—why are they thanking me? Shouldn’t I be checking in on them? I was getting paid to make sure they were finding everything they needed and had a good experience doing so, and here they were making sure I was the one getting everything I needed and giving me the joy to keep on going.
I still can’t say it wasn’t tiring or that some people were not more difficult to interact with than others. I can’t say it wasn’t frustrating when I forgot to take a security tag off or didn’t know how to respond to a customer that was angry about their coupon not working. But it wasn’t all bad. It wasn’t all exhaustion. You see, hours ticked by like minutes and there were moments of peace and joy sprinkled throughout ringing up customer after customer in a line that never-ended. Mind you, I’ve only worked two days so far and may have simply been blessed to have had a unique experience, but the reality of retail, from how I see it, is that it just ain’t so bad. Actually, I’ve even found it to be fun.
