The Holiday Season Thread

[pheediddy23]

yeah and they started the day after halloween! it's just unreal let us enjoy thanksgiving start it the day after thanksgiving! just weird to me that they would do that it's really just capitalization but its annoying

[Disney Babe]

Originally Posted by pheediddy23

yeah and they started the day after halloween! it's just unreal let us enjoy thanksgiving start it the day after thanksgiving! just weird to me that they would do that it's really just capitalization but its annoying

I noticed Christmas music in the local K-Mart on Friday, which really annoyed me. But then I had to go back there today and I heard, There's No Place Like Home for the Holidays and started singing to it! I have a feeling that my mood depends on what sort of Christmas music it is. On both Friday and today I heard music with some lyrics focused on gifts and I was disgusted.

[doasdreamersdo]

...the only thing that I am thinking about right now for this Holiday season...is that for the first time in my life...I have to work on Black Friday...I am slightly afraid for my life....(for those who may not know...in the retail world 'Black Friday' is the day after Thanksgiving)

[Tell_No_Tales]

^I know what you mean and it's not that bad. There's no need to worry and the your day will go by faster than normal. I use to work Black Fridays at Toy Co. in the Arizona Mills. What sucked was to work a graveyard shift to make sure the store ready for Black Friday and then work the opening shift on black friday.

[doasdreamersdo]

Okay...if you survived, then I feel confiedent that I will. (I just hope they don't stick me back in the fitting rooms....)

[Disney Babe]

Originally Posted by doasdreamersdo

...the only thing that I am thinking about right now for this Holiday season...is that for the first time in my life...I have to work on Black Friday...I am slightly afraid for my life....(for those who may not know...in the retail world 'Black Friday' is the day after Thanksgiving)

I've done it before, thirteen years in a row! Don't worry about it. As mentioned your day will go by fast! The store where I worked was a popular department store with a reasonable holiday schedule. We didn't have the crazy early morning hours of some stores. I think we might have opened an hour early, that's it. We always had crowds waiting at the doors on sales days anyway, so the day after Thanksgiving was not much different. We did give better deals during the first hour or two in the last few years we were open. The company I worked for went bankrupt in '99 after about 50 years in business.

If you are not a supervisor, dept. head, or lead, there really isn't that much more stress. I've been a dept. head, cashier, and supervised cashiers. I felt a lot less stress cashiering on the day after Thanksgiving than if I was on the floor or supervising cashiers. Honestly, it's just like any other first day of a big sale. Any problem that occurs during the first day of a sale can occur. There are just more people. Most people are in a good mood, actually. Unless, maybe you work for a toy store. I don't think most places are anywhere as bad as what they show on the news.

The worst thing that can happen is mandatory overtime without a break, so hopefully you have understanding supervisors. Hopefully, you come in to start your shift at a low stress time, too. I preferred store opening, but that was because we actually got more customers and more things going wrong after being open a couple of hours. I didn't like coming into a zoo!

I don't think it would be too bad working the fitting rooms. If you are working with good supervisors and management, they should make sure all employees are scheduled that day and there is plenty of teamwork. I don't think you would be working the fitting rooms alone.

The real hard part is doing it, and the entire Christmas shopping season, year after year. Especially full time and especially if church and family is important to you. In December '99, the company I worked for had been closed for three months and I got to experience my first "real" Christmas season in 14 years!

What store are you working for?

[doasdreamersdo]

I'm working for Victoria's Secret, lol. I asked on of my supervisors the other day what it is like on the day after Thanksgiving, and she said pretty much the same thing you did. We really only open two hours earlier than normal - and she recommended that I request the opening shift (even though its early) because you're not walking into a zoo. So, I have higher hopes for that Friday, now.