I entered the world of retail about a year and a half ago, after working three years at your well-known ice cream shop Cold Stone Creamery. Just like your typical college student that needs a laid back job and flexible hours, I decided to work for retail. Everything started out great over the summer when I began my first job at a clearance store of the mainline American Eagle. The hours were great, my coworkers were great, the customers better than food customers, my managers were great and so on... I just loved my new job! The season slowed down around September and working once a week wasn't just enough for my personal needs, but I decided to stick with it as I still needed to focus mainly on my grades.

Around the middle of November, I decided to get a second job at the same mall only a few doors away from my first job, just for some backup hours and it seems to be working out fine. It was my first time they had asked me at a job to work for Thanksgiving night and I agreed. I mean I'm not from out of state, and I see my family every day, so I decided that skipping a Thanksgiving would be alright.

I was on my way to work that night, and the heavy rainfall was probably a sign from the universe that I should've just stayed home with my family that Thanksgiving night. It was around 7 o'clock and I began to tell myself that no one would show up because it was Thanksgiving night, but as I pulled up to the parking lot I came to the realization that people just don't care about family anymore. There was literally no parking spaces available. The Earth seemed to be breaking apart, but inside was worse. I had done Black Friday shopping before, but never on Thanksgiving night so it was quite shocking to see all these people for the first time. There are no words to describe how exhausted I became throughout the night, but then remembered I was getting paid time and a half to be there...

The second day, which was only the second of five crazy days was definitely the worst. I'm sorry to break it down to customers but Black Friday at a clothing store is a scam, there are no mind-blowing deals, it has been the same all year round! Perhaps that is still my Black Friday self thinking after the end of my shift. It was extremely crazy to see all these families and their kids, risk their lives as the Earth was breaking apart due to extreme weather outside and they began an apocalypse inside the mall. Yes, there were more than 15 employees working at our store at the same time, but their sales and profit were so high they can afford to pay every single one of them more during that day and the rest of the Black Friday weekend.

Retail is easy and flexible compared to the food industry environment. From working every Sunday by myself at a Cold Stone shift as I was responsible for prepping and handling the back, and also responsible for taking care of the crazy lines of rude people that wanted ice cream I know what it feels like to feel overworked and underpaid. Those days and that job made me stronger and taught me to work in a fast-paced environment while I still hold my patience.

There is a lot of college students that work retail jobs, and a lot of us have finals week right after Thanksgiving break. Due to economical circumstances working the whole week seemed like a pretty good idea, but those long hours of exhaustion and recovering every single item after it; the pay just isn't enough. I don't think I have to explain any further about customers' attitudes during this holiday of hysteria is.

Black Friday is a national scam that shows the dark side of humanity as our materialistic selves take over us. Black Friday cannot be ended or avoided, but paying their employees more and treating them with kindness as they treat you would make this apocalypse worth living for.