Thanksgiving Week is finally upon us, which means that Black Friday steals and deals are just around the corner. I have so many great memories from Black Friday trips I’ve taken with my mom and my grandmother, and there’s no denying that I love a good deal, but we’ve also all heard/seen the horror stories that inevitably come out of stores offering incredibly low prices at 3:00 AM. They almost always include people running, screaming, or (yes) attacking other shoppers or even the employees in the mad scramble to get early Christmas gifts. The overarching theme? Chaos. Lots of it. And since we’ve been cooped up for a while now, I just felt the need to pop in and remind everyone of their manners.
I’ve been working in retail for a couple months now, and I’ve gained some valuable insight in that time. I’ve also seen my fair share of rude and unruly customers, but since November 1st hit (and the Christmas shelves were stocked), such occurrences have become more frequent and, for lack of a better word, more aggressive. This, for obvious reasons, makes me a little nervous for Black Friday. Which leads me to this lovely PSA:
Be nice to retail workers this Friday.
Especially if you’re going somewhere that opened on Thursday. I promise you, we would much rather be spending the holidays with our families instead. Lines are going to be long—understand that we can’t make the machines go any faster. Pick up after yourself—you are not 5 years old, please put the snow globe back where you found it. And whatever you do, do not harass, yell at, attack, or throw merchandise at the employees working at your favorite stores—you will be the breakroom topic for the next week and a half.
Thanksgiving is meant to be a time of thankfulness and reflection on all that you have, and after the last few years, all that you have is more of a blessing than you know. Don’t immediately forget that as soon as the dinner table is cleared. Let’s all show a little kindness and maybe a little gratitude to the people who make it possible for you to buy that 70-inch TV for 80% off.
If you wouldn’t do it under normal shopping circumstances (and sometimes, even if you would), don’t do it on Black Friday. Just enjoy the holiday atmosphere, spend some time with family, and be grateful that air fryer was only $50 instead of $150.