Black Thursday/Friday Debriefing Thread 2016

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

I'm not working retail any more, but for those people that are or get sucked into the craziness some other way...here's the thread for you.

I plan on stopping by the swamp tomorrow night But it will be well after the big sale has started.

[Seanette]

Much to my joy, I have a four-day weekend. My biggest plans for same involve sleep, sloth, and avoiding stores at all costs.

[Monterey Jack]

I'll be hitting Best Buy on BF (for some movies) and promise to be as courteous to the employees as possible.

[Pixelated]

Much to my joy, I have a four-day weekend. My biggest plans for same involve sleep, sloth, and avoiding stores at all costs.

However did you manage that?? We are in 'blackout' mode (have been since Nov. 1), which means you cannot book time off except for your own death ... and possibly not even then.

However, in my case, thanks to New Main Job, I only have to face Black Friday on Saturday. Which will be bad enough, but not nearly as bad as Black Friday itself when, apparently the store (well, the whole mall) opens at the gawdawful hour of 7 a.m.

[Seanette]

I work in a call center now, and my project runs normal M-F business hours, with holidays off.

[Food Lady]

I work in a call center now, and my project runs normal M-F business hours, with holidays off.

Me, too, but I still carry the retail. So I'll be working Thurs night into Friday, going home to sleep, and going to the office at noon. But I work a short shift on Saturday, like 5 hours. And Sunday nights are a breeze.

[morgana]

I will be, as usual, sleeping late, eating junk, and binge-watching TV. There is never anything on sale enough for me to risk the Black Friday Madness.

[Smapti]

I work in a grocery store, so we get Black Wednesday instead.

I finished my grocery shift an hour and a half behind schedule and told my boss that the areas I was supposed to stock weren't perfect, but they were good as they were going to get, because I could've put in another two hours of work, on holiday overtime (2 1/2 times our normal hourly pay), and with as busy as it still was (seven checkstands open at 1:30 AM) the shelves still wouldn't have been any closer to full.

He agreed with my reasoning and told me to have a happy Thanksgiving.

I do have to be back on Friday at 6 AM to open the dairy department, but it'll be dead that day and I'll be able to spend my shift re-filling everything that was left empty when we close this afternoon.

[XCashier]

This is the first Black Friday I've had off since 2009. (Namely, because my last day at The Fabric Store was last Friday.) I'll be thinking of you and avoiding the stores. Best of luck to everyone who has to work this weekend.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Not in retail anymore, but as in previous years, I'm working on Thanksgiving Day at the IT Service Desk. Thankfully, it's not usually that busy on Turkey Day. And my family just tends to have the big dinner on a day when I'm not working.

Nevertheless, my thoughts are with those in the trenches today and tomorrow.

[Lovecats]

I haven't had a Black Thursday (or Friday) since 2013 since I retired in 2014. I never wanted to shop that time of year anyway even before retail but my nondesire to shop is even stronger after almost 10 yrs of retail. My mil is the same way and she never did work retail. She did go shopping on BF in 2005 but that was mostly because my sil wanted to and she (my sil) passed away in Feb 2006.

[BrenDAnn]

I worked 4:30 to 11:30 this morning at the C-Store. It was largely uneventful, aside from one customer starting the newspaper stack falling over, and the next finishing the job. FFS, people, stop digging into the middle of the stack. Also, the Des Moines paper was $4 today. Normal daily price is $2, Sunday $3. Way to trick people out of an extra buck or two in the name of consumerism, Register! ETA: Forgot about the guy who randomly came into the store and called out, "Flour!?" Apparently, he was having a holiday cooking "emergency" and needed flour in a hurry. Go figure.

[SimonF12009]

My phone network is doing a 2-week Black Friday deal, which started on Monday and finishes a week on Sunday, so tomorrow shouldn't be too bad

[Slave to the Phone]

I make it a point to not do any shopping on holidays. The few Black Fridays that I had to work, I've always been safely ensconced behind a cash register. I saw some crazy stuff, but nothing like the floor workers did.

Currently, I'm having a moral dilemma. I need an onion. The person I would usually ask is out of town. There is a new mom and pop mini-mart that is only about 1 mile away. They don't just sell beer and gas, they also have a selection of "real" food, including veggies. I'm glad that store is there because we are out in the sticks and the closest grocery store is half an hour away. I try to buy all of my gas there to support it.

Enough background, here's the problem. I need an onion. I don't shop on holidays. The new store owner would be happy to sell me an onion and has in fact stocked a small amount of Thanksgiving food just for people like me and probably can't return it if it doesn't sell.

So, do I stand on my principles, or just go and buy a damned onion?

[prjkt]

Well you're going for a necessity, not a "big ticket sale item" so that's a pass in my books