So what are you doing on Thanksgiving/Black Friday?

[starglitter]

I put in a request for Thanksgiving through the following Monday off. I'm going to my dads house for the long holiday and he lives a couple of hours away. I worked last Thanksgiving and I always have Fridays and Saturdays off so I haven't worked a Black Friday yet.

[Retail Associate]

I'll be working Thanksgiving and Black Friday. It's mandatory that everyone work those days. We are not allowed any extra time off between the week of Thanksgiving and New Year's Eve. No exceptions. I truly hate the holidays.

Come the 1st of January we'll be begging for hours. That's when everything comes to a screeching halt.

[friendofjimmyk]

Come the 1st of January we'll be begging for hours. That's when everything comes to a screeching halt.

Fortunately, I work for emergency roadside assistnace. Hours are abundant in the winter time due to an increase in service calls due to inclement weather. I haven't worked in retail during the holidays in a long time. I have worked the restaurants over the holidays and those were always good times for tips due to all the company parties and whatnot that came through.

[Pezzle]

On Black Friday I am scheduled at 5:00 AM, which means I'm coming it at 4:30 AM. I am scheduled, also, until the store closes which will probably be around 1:00 AM.

5:00 AM - 1:00 AM just helping customers. Then it's an hour or two of cleaning and shelving and inventory and tags.

So I'm working a near 24-hour shift.

And whether circuit city likes it or not, I am taking off after christmas and returning mid january because I am NOT throwing away 4k worth of my hard earned cash that i already paid for plane tickets to europe.

[Crazyredhead]

Since I don't have anything better to do, I'm thinging of getting my video recorder and go to the local walmart and get the local festivities on film. I think that it should give the family a really good laugh at all of the people coming through the door like panicked cattle from the butcher, trying to get one of the few PS3's that are up for grabs. Nothing like watching 200 people come rushing through and running for electronics like bats out of hell.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

Since I don't have anything better to do, I'm thinging of getting my video recorder and go to the local walmart and get the local festivities on film. I think that it should give the family a really good laugh at all of the people coming through the door like panicked cattle from the butcher, trying to get one of the few PS3's that are up for grabs. Nothing like watching 200 people come rushing through and running for electronics like bats out of hell.

Think I'll do that myself on launch day, which is the 17th I believe.

I already have my schedule for next week. I'm working overnight on the 16th so there will no doubt be a line by the time I leave.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I should be at my Dad's Thanksgiving for part of the day, then I'll be home helping Mom finish the cooking for our dinner, which will be later in the evening.

As far as Black Friday goes, that's the slowest day of the year for a grocery store. The Kitty will be almost comatose. I don't know if I'll have to work that day or if I'll be off (as my schedule seems to be shifting around a bit more.)

But you can bet I won't be near any department store/mall/WallyWorld. I'm not up for mortal combat

[MystyGlyttyr]

I'll probably be working, if I get my way. "Mysty, you want to work Thanksgiving and Black Friday??" Thanksgiving, most of the paper is closed, so I'll get four hours of relative peace, and Black Friday is when most of the fun stuff happens like tramplings and ten-car pileups and screaming people calling us about how they got cheated because Wal-Mart doesn't have enough Kiss-My-Ass Elmo. I'm a newsie, I dig the excitement of a really busy day.

Here's the interesting part, though...this is still a busy time of year for me. Around Thanksgiving, my obit tally average goes up by about 20 stiffs a week and doesn't go back down until mid-January. Make of that what you will.

[Mighty Girl]

Staying as far away from stores as possible.

When I worked at Jewel Mart, I miraculously had black friday off too. I didn't ask for it. But when I stopped in to get my paycheck, the store manager (not my dept. manager who does the scheduling) was mortified that I wasn't working. And, he actually tried to get me to clock in. Um...no thanks. As it was, they had announced the store was closing a few weeks before, so there was nothing in it for me to score any brownie points.

[DistantStar]

By some miracle I got Thanksgiving off, but I do have to work Black Friday from 4 to 11. So I'll be missing the worst of it, but I'll get to clean up from the worst of it.

I'll take it, though! I'm not questioning the computer giving me Thanksgiving, that's for sure.

[Ljt09863]

the way my store works, is my manager puts up a list of hours that need to be worked on the holiday, and people voluntarily sign up. we must sign up for at least one, and if you don't sign up, she will put you at whatever shift whatever holiday.

well, the other girl in cos,N, took the 8-430 shift when the list first went up. i thought about it, and figured that was fine, cause then i could 4-8 and still go to dinner, cause it usually held around 1. the day after we signed up, i worked 8-430. i talked to my manager, and found out that we aren't open normal hours. we are only open 9-5:00. so we need to switch shifts around. she asked me if i could work 1-530, since N had signed up for the opening shift with the first schedule. i said i could, i just wouldn't go to thanksgiving dinner(hey, i missed christmas eve and christmas dinner last year. whats thanksgiving? and yes, we do have two dinners. one at my grandmothers, one at my mothers.). my boss asked why i would miss dinner if i got out at 5:30. i told her dinner is usually aorund 1. what does she say?"oh, let me see if N will work the whole shift then. if not maybe A will work."

i didn't ask for it. it just happened that way. i would have worked, but instead, she wanted to find a way for me to go to the dinner. Black Friday, i will definitly work. our shipment day is usually thursday, but because of thanksgiving, it will be on friday.


on another good note. me and N were talking about christmas. N mentioned that her family does everything on christmas eve for some reason. so, we made a deal. i work christmas eve, and she works christmas day. we ran that by the manager, and manager said ok, leah gets off thanksgiving and christmas, and works new years day. i don't care about working new years day. i can't go out an get drunk or anything.

[Cyanocobalamin]

Thanksgiving Day I will have off since the store is closed. I'm not even gonna think about having Black Friday off. 99% chance it ain't gonna happen. I'm a stocker, but I guarantee I will be on a register.

Last year I was scheduled from 7-3. I pushed my way through the mob at 6:50am, shouting "Excuse me! Coming through! I'm an EMPLOYEE!" at the miffed customers (how dare I bump into their arms!)

Trouble is, everyone else who was opening was in their own little meeting discussing how much we had of everything and how to handle the masses. Me being left out, I had NO clue what was going on. I partially blamed myself for not showing up earlier, but if they needed me sooner, why the f**k couldn't they schedule me then?? Because management assumes I'm smart and fast enough to figure out what's happening without their, erm... guidance.

I quit asking customers if they were interested in our 'protection plan' after about 10 minutes.

[Bella_Vixen]

I have off on Thanksgiving (yaaaaaaaaay) and am 97% sure I get Black Friday off. I better, because I requested these days off in MAY.

I hope I get Friday off, because then we get to go to GB. If not, we have to cook dinner in our apartment (with its extremely tiny kitchen). :Þ

My boss is trying to tell me how busy we will be on Friday, "because we're on the strip." Yeah right. I remember last year. If it's not busy enough for both registers to be open, don't try that with me.

Of course, this means I will more then likely be working Christmas and New Years...2nd shift no less, because I am very close to finally getting my promotion. ::sigh::


::warning--mini rant::
People, do us gas station workers a favor and buy your cigarettes the day before and use your CC at the pump (even better is buying your gas the day before, but for those travelling...). Also, why do you enjoy paying too much for eggs, milk and butter because you decided to wait till the last minute to buy every ingredient needed for dinner?? And don't even pretend that you are sorry that we have to work. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have to.

Rant over.

[Giggle Goose]

And don't even pretend that you are sorry that we have to work. If it wasn't for you, we wouldn't have to.

Seriously, don't you hate that?! Oh, sure, you might feel bad for like, 2 seconds, but then you just hop right back into your car and head home or to the mall or wherever while the person you just shed your crocodile tears for has to miss out on seeing THEIR friends and family due to the likes of you. Doesn't it suck when the people you love who DON'T work retail don't understand that you just can't wave a magic wand and get off any day you want? And they wonder why i hate the holidays. well, i don't, but it's just really disillusioning to see such nastiness and materialism when it's supposed to be all about giving and goodwill. Yeah, right.

Sorry about that, just had to vent. As for me, we're closed Thanksgiving, and I requested an early shift on Black Friday since I'd rather be up in all the action (because, frankly, it's hysterically funny) than have to be cleaning up after it in the wee hours of the morning. I'm on the early morning stock team, and i've told them not to schedule me for any more register shifts, even though EVERYONE will be bagging and stocking. So I'll be seeing my Mom, and I also got off on Dec. 23 for a family gathering, so i'll almost surely be working Christmas Eve. But my Dad and my sibling are staying at a hotel to come see ME on Christmas, so I won't be lonely!!!! My family and my boyfriend are pretty supportive of their poor little retail worker, so yes, maybe, just maybe, I can enjoy the holidays after all

[Severen13]

Thanksgiving: Flying home to TN, spending the holiday with my parents, two sisters and nephew, and stuffing myself with turkey and pumpkin pie.

Black Friday: Staying home and stuffing myself with leftovers.