Black Friday is a hot button issue, and it will generate a lot of venom and anger. MPSIMS is far too tame for this topic, just as it is not spicey enough for the subject of telemarketers. Why don’t you go take a big dump in your own toilet? You’ll probably feel less sour afterwards. The rest of us are here to vent our spleen on the topic of Black Friday.
I would agree with your rant to an extent, but if “Black Friday” is such a PITA for retailers, they have no one to blame but themselves. I worked retailing (in toy stores, no less) and while it was busy the day after Thanksgiving, it was never this kind of nightmare. The busiest days, as someone referenced above, were always the weekend days before Christmas. And the closer to Christmas the weekend was, the busier they were. And I never once heard the day after Thanksgiving referred to by any of my cohorts in the various malls I worked in as “Black Friday.”
Nowadays retailers and the media have overly pushed the whole concept of “Black Friday” so that they all feel the need to open as early as possible and have outlandish sales and most consumers have bought into the whole concept. The advertising worked well, but you can’t really blame too much the consumers who fed into the buying frenzy that was sold to them by the retailers.
My sympathies - truly.
I think that every American should be required to work at retail for at least 6 months - including the Christmas holidays.
I had to take a PT job this year and I made a list of things I did not want:
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no malls. Over the holidays, you’re trapped by the mall hours, which extend to ELEVEN PM!!! on occasion here in NJ.
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no anchor stores (Macys, L&T, etc). These places invariably understaff and I would pick up an Uzi if I found myself defending the small leather goods department single-handedly on Christmas Eve.
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no big box retailers. See above plus the added attraction of the incident you described.
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nothing to do with kids - especially toy stores. :eek:
What I settled on was a relatively upscale womens’ clothing store (Chico’s - www.chicos.com). They pay relatively well and offer a commission. This one is also located in one of the new upscale strip malls popping up in NJ (other tenants include Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, J Crew & Coach).
I really do feel for you. My last stint in retail was in the early 80s and today this day I avoid malls between November 15th and January 30th.
Good luck to you; all I can say is kill them with kindness. The ruder they are to you, the nicer you are in return. If they’re really clueless, be nice in that unique Basil Fawlty way - it will be fun
VCNJ~
Nah, it’s not a PITA for the retailers, only for the poor souls on the front line that have to bear the brunt of all that frenzied consumption. The retailers themselves, or the suits that actually reap the rewards of Black Friday, are laughing all the way to the bank.
I mean, come on, two gnarling shoppers playing tug-of-war with a DVD recorder like dogs with a bone? That’s capitalist wank material at its finest.
Yes. Because we were all teenagers once, and it’s cute when they whine about stuff as if it’s happening for the first time. And we support them in their life journey, and some of them are damned articulate and fun to hear from, and we can all learn from each other and commiserate with them.
And some of us are edging up to 50 and still stuck in retail hell.
As long as they write well and are entertaining, they are welcome to spew their angst just like anyone else…as long as they don’t make fun of the threads about sleep apnea and failing vision and dating cluelessness amongst the middle-aged.
I cannot tell from the OP whether s/he’s male, female, or anything in between. I also can’t tell if s/he’s 16 or 66, or anything in between. I considered the rant as being part personal, but also a commentary on the social phenomena of Black Friday and clueless customers. This rant is appropriately placed and timely.
WARNING:
Carol Stream, cool it with the attitude. Most of your posts seem to be in the Pit, and have a trollish flavor to them. Even your posts which are NOT in the Pit are often trollish or overly aggressive. Your posts are frequently inappropriate in tone and placement.
Lynn Bodoni
Administrator
For the Straight Dope Message Board
And as long as they stay the hell off our lawns. Don’t forget that.
Meanwhile, excellent rant. I don’t shop Black Friday and I never will. You retailers want to sell me mediocre goods at a discount, pick another day to do it. The whole thing feeds into human greed and selfishness anyway, and plays on our worst instincts.
Oh yeah, and Carol Stream is a flaming asshole.
I checked my Charles MacKay books and I can’t find an early parallel to “Black Friday” in his works. However, this self-perpetuating phenomenon belongs very nicely in them. It might be interesting to make a 21st Century version.
And don’t DARE mutter something about Depends when we argue with them. :mad:
In one of my rare ‘gotta flight’ modes that counter act the agoraphobia, I found myself at Wal*Mart around 2:00 AM before the big ass sales started. I was absolutely terrified that some of these kamakazis were already lurking about to steal my toilet paper because it was ‘deeply discounted’ and specially designed out of gold and shit ( ! ). To my utter amazement, the place was almost deserted and cleaner than I’ve ever witnessed it. Oh, a few people were milling around reading books, apparently not too far from whatever they wanted to purchase. And they’d already started the ticket redemption system for the big items. However, over all, that was the best experience I’ve ever had there.
Fortunately, since I’ve never done this Black Friday business before, I can’t report anything but hearsay. Which, like someone upthread said, seems to be on par with planning a war campaign. One woman I overheard bragged about how she went to one store, another sister somewhere else, etc., etc. They too had maps, with quick direct routes to the items they wanted in order (so as not to waste precious minutes back-tracking), cell phones (I’m unclear on their purpose – is something was off the list, did they want it? had they heard of some more deserving Big Box they’d omitted?) and helpers. Yes, one to hold the buggy down, another to fetch/scout and I suppose, the last to fight if necessary.
This lady was extremely proud of herself and highly recommended it to anyone within ear shot. She said she’s never lost out on anything that her loved ones just HAD TO HAVE. And to prove her long-standing, flawless record, she mentioned the first holy grail of all this nonsense… like half a dozen Cabbage Patch Dolls. Well, duh to me.
I didn’t even ask. Instead, I hung my in my pity for someone who marks her worth this way over 20 years. Retail is indeed hell. myskepticsight, not only do you sound like an awesome employ that anyone would be lucky to hire, but a good person as well (since no Uzis were harmed in the making of your post ). You do have my sympathies, so very much. I’ve worked retail also and it’s helped me to solidify my only rule regarding same; no time put in early on Sundays. There’s something about working with a bunch of pissed of religious people that makes me want Content Atheist tattooed on my forehead.
I worked at CCity for 2 years back when they were commission based and I made over $800 each year on that day so it was great. I can understand being aggravated by people on that day. I was. But there is really not much you can complain about. You chose to take the job at CCity instead of at a restaurant waiting tables. I’ve done all of it. For anyone over the age of 15 to claim shock and suprise over the retardedness of the shopping experience on BF is lame.
From the sounds of it it really sounds like you just couldn’t hack it to be honest. Nearly all of your complaints are due to being hounded with the same questions you would have gotten on any other work day, but there were 20x more people in the store so you got hit with 20x more people asking you questions. Did this suprise you that more people=more work for you? Why should people not feel entitled to the same level of service from your store on BF than any other day? Should they not ask the questions on their mind or not ask for help? Should they not ask you to actually assist them instead of doing nothing more than cashiering and sending them out the door?
Anyway, I give this rant a 4 because I understand the aggravation but I don’t understand the suprise and resentment towards the customers. Makes you sound like a “privledged teen”.
Anyone who works retail needs to expect to be part of the hell that is Black Friday. I avoid it like the plague because fighting with people over shit I can buy any other day of the season is no fun. Yeah, there are bargains to be had, but are they worth it? Sorry for your rough initiation. It *won’t * get better next year. I think the retailers actually like the stress and chaos associated with it. It makes customers think they benefitted somehow because it hurt more.
Internet shopping has been the way to go for 90% of my holiday purchases for about five years now. I love it!
As you said, the horrors of BF are well known. As such, customers should know that the stores will be understaffed to handle the one day a year unusual crowds and the clerks attentions will be divided to the point that it is simply impossible to give the same level of service.
We don’t have the tradition of Black Friday in Canada (but my pit rant would be about the Boxing Day sales, which might be our equivalent). However, our debit/credit card system seemed to go down all over town yesterday due to the stress on the system from US shoppers. That was a ‘wow’ for me.
I couldn’t work retail–I could not hack it. Especially on such a hyped day. Kudos to anyone who survives it.
If you don’t want to read a rant about being on the retail side on the notorious shopping day, skip the thread, for heaven’s sake. I personally don’t care about football or baseball, hence, I do not browse those threads. Easy choice. Do not go into those threads and then post something along the lines of “football is for morons, why do you waste your time following a bunch of over-paid, over-indulged athletes?”
So what if this thread is a rant from a young person in retail? What I like about the boards is reading stuff posted by all kinds of people who do, think, care about and experience all kinds of things. I’m not a lawyer, coroner, prison guard, retail worker, doctor, museum worker, vet, or chef. I’m not a parent or cat fancier or movie buff.
However, I really enjoy the opportunity to read about what it’s like to be in those professions or situations. It’s a chance to see the world from someone else’s perspective, and as such, a great resource. Long may it thrive.
I don’t think the OP gave the impression that she didn’t expect this, or was hostile to the customers. I saw it purely as venting-you have to let off steam every once in a while.
We went through this same thing a few weeks ago. When and how did this get started – the assumption that someone who posts a work-related gripe is displaying a poor attitude when they’re actually on the job?
It used to be understood that someone Pitting their job was doing so because they’d been exercising iron control all day, and needed to vent before they went back. The Pit threads were understood to be a chance to say all that they did not say at work. Now, it seems, everyone is supposed to love their job, every bit of it, and get on their knees and thank Og that they’re overwhelmed and exhausted, and bless the entitled, needy customers. And if they utter a word of complaint online, that is incontrovertible proof that they’re displaying a poor attitude at their job, and don’t deserve the job.
What is the rule here? The Pit is supposed to be rant-proof? Or only certain themes are allowed? What are those certain themes? Just so I know.
I also don’t see what being a teen has to do with it either. There’s no magic power given to you as an adult that prepares you for literal throngs of needy, impatient stampeding customers. It’s a shitty day, it’s a shitty day if you’re working there and you’re 16, and it’s shitty if you’re there and you’re 40.
I love Black Friday shopping! I leave at 4:00 to drive an hour to the place with better shopping centers than are available in my area. I almost always have a “buddy”, but have gone alone too. Yesterday, it was me and my sister. I bought very little, she bought a boatload of stuff for her grandson.
I go in “blind”. I do not get myself excited over specific products at insane prices. I also don’t turn down a good deal. I’m the shopper helping shorter people reach stuff on high shelves. I’m the shopper that smiles at the cashier and thanks him/her for his/her time. I’m the shopper that will hold your spot in line if the lines are long and you have to pee. My husband once loaded a “doorbuster” computer into an elderly man’s shopping cart before he got one for me, because I wanted the old guy to have one as much as I wanted me to have one. We smile and laugh and have a good time.
My personal feelings: If you’re going to tromp around the store spouting “fuck this, fuck that”, stay at home!!! You should know better than to shop on Black Friday if you hate crowds. Leave your children HOME. Wait until you have a sitter to do your shopping! Don’t stand around having a family/class reunion in the aisles. And for crying out loud, mind your manners.
Another point to add, as a former retail worker, customers like WishIHadACoolName were usually remembered by us employees, and we usually would go out of our way to help them, and make sure to let them know of special deals coming up, or do something extra, rather than just the bare minimum.
It’s not that I neglected the rude assholes, but I’d do whatever I had to do, and that was it.
Flies and honey and all that.
What’s marginally funny is that when people do say things like that, often while insisting the thread should be in MPSIMS, they justify the thread’s existence in the Pit.