Comments on: Thanksgiving and Black Friday Horror Stories from Workers

By: Cobretti

Cobretti — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 11:20:26 +0000

Remember the days when Thanksgiving meant going over to visit family and enjoy eating some good food and entertainment? Those days are gone and ruined!!! But, WE were the ones that created this. Do you think the CEO’s of Toys”R”Us, Best Buy or Walmart are camping out in the cold for almost a day or more waiting to save a buck on their kids’ toys?!?!?!?! HELL NO!!! While we stand around like sheep waiting to save some money and trying and make Christmas enjoyable and happy for our families these bastards are enjoying their Thanksgiving in their warm mansions, delighting over how many millions of dollars they’re making on us SHEEP!!! Billionaires could give two shits what you as a consumer or as a low-level employee have to go through to survive in today’s world of overly-priced, unneeded gadgetry (which I myself am a slave to)!!! I MUST have my cell phone with GPS and internet access, my laptop with built-in EVERYTHING because I’ve been made to think, as we all have, that I can’t have fun or survive without these things! Why do you think electronics are the big “door-buster” items during “BLACK FRIDAY”??? Because they know us idiots will be right there foaming at the mouth waiting to get our fix. It’s called Black Friday because it’s a day of mourning. We’re mourning the loss of true family togetherness, true love and caring. We’re not thankful to be alive anymore, we’re thankful for the 60″ TV we just saved $100 on but it cost us $700 (which we truly don’t have anyway)!!! The entire world is falling into this mentality and it’s insane! Before we know it, we will all becomes slaves to some corporation. Working simply to be able to live. The debt crisis is due, in part, to this sort of “Ghetto Mentality” where we feel that we NEED these things to seem well-off and happy when in reality we’re drowning in debt barely keeping our heads above water.

The solution: Stay home, enjoy your family time, love each other, and sleep well-fed! Let the corporations know that this day is for you and your family and they don’t need to force others away from THEIR families simply to have us save a few bucks! Commit to a boycott to get your families, finances, sanity and soul back!

By: Jean Thomas

Jean Thomas — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 00:53:49 +0000

What did we all do before the shopping craze, like Black Friday?! It’s pure nuts. Someone talked about a boycott of stores. I AGREE. The next time you want to get to the store by 4 or 5 AM to save money, think about the poor workers who have no choice. They have to work those hours. Shame on us for getting to this point, where there are Christmas lights—- sorry, HOLIDAY LIGHTS, in the stores before the turkeys are on the table. On TV, all you hear is, “Black Friday”, “Black Friday”. Imagine the poor workers who really have no choice to work those rediculous yes, rediculous hours. Christmas has become all about money, not spirit. Christmas does not live anymore in the heart of men, but in the pocketbook. We run from store to store looking for just the right gift in a state of frenzy, spending money we don’t have, and then for many people only to wish the holidays were over. Spirit? Where has it gone? What about gifts? How about the gift of peace, the gift of love, the gift of hope, the gift of life? No, it’s not corny. We need to believe again. We need to get back again to what is real and important, to love others and help all men in need. Money is truly the root of all evil as the saying goes. People lie for it, they even kill for it. We must stop this nonsense now and find the spirit of Christmas in others, in life, in love, in nature itself. Star t now people! Stop going crazy shopping and spending. Live on less. Simplify and be happier and more peaceful, and content. Your mind will love it. Get in the spirit by finding within yourself what gives you joy. If you don’t get your shopping done, life will continue on in spite. When my Mother passed away at the age of 49, by Dad drove back from the hospital and the firs words he said to me were, “Hmm, I still had to stop at the red lights.” Make the change today.

By: Heather

Heather — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:27:13 +0000

I’m on Black Friday #5. I work in a Starbucks that’s located in the dead center of a mall. And I don’t think there is anyone more rude and cranky than customers going to Starbucks in a mall on Black Friday.

The way I always survive is by going into robot mode. Once I reach the parking lot, park like 2 miles away, I spend my time on the way to the doors shutting off any thoughts and feelings. I go into my job and just don’t think about anything the entire time and don’t say anything beyond the customer’s drink orders. If I can go through the day not thinking or feeling anything, I always make it out okay because I don’t get stressed, I don’t care if a customer is mad at me, I just send them on my way and pretend that I’m not there.

By: Liz

Liz — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:05:17 +0000

I worked retail on Black Friday in high school. It was a party supply and cheap card store which did a decent business if only because some parents think that they need to spend $300 on decorations for their child’s first birthday party. Every day I worked reinforced the fact that working there was the best birth control ever. For every cute child we had come through the lines paying for his dad’s birthday card with his own 49 cents while Mom looked on proudly, we had a brat in a Disney Princess or Batman costume kicking employees or having temper tantrums when Mom didn’t want to buy every single Jasmine plate in the store.

The one day of the year we escaped the crazy kids was Black Friday. Most parents seemed to want to get in and out without the hassle of the children getting distracted by the Christmas decorations (Winnie the Pooh in a Santa hat is a big draw people), so they came alone. At 6 a.m. We, as workers, had to get there at 5:15 to get prepped on the cash registers and sale prices. At 5:30 parents began to line up outside our doors as they eyed the 35% off rocking horse that makes “authentic” noises. At 5:55 they were pounding on the glass to be let in. One year we had to call the retail park police over so our worker unlocking the door wouldn’t be plowed over by crazed parents searching for a deal.

Thank God I’m salaried at a corporation that has Thursday and Friday off this year. I promise to be patient with those working retail on Friday, though.

By: shopgirl

shopgirl — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 01:09:28 +0000

I have worked many Thanksgiving holidays in retail. Lets face it-there are a lot of jobs out there where people have to work the holiday. Someone has to be there to take your train ticket when you are heading to Grandmas turkey buffet. Or maybe granny is living in a nursing home, surely you wouldn’t want the staff to take the day off and let her fend for herself. And if you injure yourself in a holiday cooking accident you’d want someone to be there when uncle mike takes you to the ER. Having that said, I really don’t think retail falls into that category.
I don’t remember Thanksgiving being such a big shopping day a decade ago when I started in retail. Obviously retailers have found a way to make a buck and consumers who go out to shop on this day are just as much to blame. I would just like to ask people to STOP shopping on this day! It’s not right. I don’t think its terrible for a store to be open short hours until noon or so on that day because that leaves most of the day for family. However if you look at your Walmarts and your Targets they are not only open full days but have extended “holiday” hours.
For the third year in a row I am working overnight on this week because there are so many sales we have to put up tons of new signs every night of the week. I choose this shift because I can still have the day with my family but I don’t get much sleep when I am working 10pm – 8am Wednesday Thursday and Friday night.

By: ptevlin

ptevlin — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:06:39 +0000

When I worked in retail (in the 70’s), NO ONE was given that Friday after Thanksgiving off. All the part-timers (usually college students who worked evenings & weekends) were called in for 8 hour shifts. No exceptions. If you valued your job, you showed up, And yes, we were quite busy.

By: Lorraine

Lorraine — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:10:02 +0000

ps I find it ironic that the picture associated with my profile is one of me in West Edmonton Mall in Canadia. NOT on Black Friday, however!

By: Lorraine

Lorraine — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 10:08:59 +0000

I worked in retail for more than 13 years. I still hate Christmas, not because it’s Christmas, but because it reminds me so much of that life.

By: Human Resourceress

Human Resourceress — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:09:24 +0000

I worked in retail for the first 5 of my 21 years in HR – Bon Ton Stores. I now fondly refer to it as “HR Bootcamp”! HR was considered executive management. We were forced to work 6 days a week from the week before Thanksgiving through New Years. If that was not enough, we did inventory the first week of January!

We had to be in at 4:30 a.m. on Black Friday to replenish the store. They had free giftwrapping back then – I am an expert giftwrapper, even 16 years later. Our store hours were extended the entire holiday from 8 a.m. – 10 or 11 p.m.. I hated Christmas becuase of my job.

I made my friends promise to come shoot me if I worked a 6th Chrsitmas season in retail. Luckily I landed in manufacturing. To this day, I avoid malls at any cost…

By: nat

nat — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:44:18 +0000

I used to work in retail (Baby Gap) and had to work two consecutive Black Fridays. It was required of every employee as the store was open for the entire 24 hours that day (12am-12am). Since I had an additional job that also required I work that day, I would have to work the 12a-6a shift where I’d have tired & angry mothers screaming at me for no reason (in order to cancel her credit card transaction, I had to swipe it again and she called my manager over accusing me of charging her twice – things like that). Please remember: as much as you don’t want to be shopping at 3a on a Friday b/c you’re trying to avoid the crowds (which you won’t, because everyone has that idea), the employees you’re yelling at for whatever reason are even less happy to be there. Also, a tip: if stores are open 24 hrs, the best time to go is around 6am b/c you’ve missed the frenzy of people who get there right away and it falls before the AM rush.