Post Black Friday

Black Friday was HELL!!!!

Or at least it was supposed to be.

Can I first say that Thursday night (Friday morning) was probably the coldest of the season up to that point, yet when I came to work at 4:30am, there was still a line all the way around the building and out onto the sidewalk of El Camino Real. My first thought was that these people are insane. I froze my ass off walking into the building so there is no way I could even imagine standing in the freezing cold over night just to get a good deal on a television. Is it really worth it?

Apparently it was, at least to those that were standing in line.

Here’s how it worked at Best Buy.

The most prominent items we had on sale were plasma and LCD televisions and laptops. At 4am we handed out tickets to the people in line that wanted those items (we handed out as many tickets as we had of the items). Once the store opened, the only way to get a television or a laptop was to have a ticket for that specific item, if you didn’t have a ticket, you were shit out of luck.

Now prior to our doors opening at the shinning hour of 5am, we had a staff meeting where our managers explained to us, that the day was about having fun and they told us not to worry if customers complained, because it was going to happen and there was nothing we could do about.

As the doors opened, I prepared myself for a stampede; however, I was in no one’s path to the product that they wanted and to be honest there was no stampede. What I did see was amusing. The first few people through the door walked—really no thrill there. Then the people with carts started coming in. My co-worker and I laughed, because really, why would you take a cart when there is hardly any room to walk in the store let alone bring a cart. Then we saw the funniest thing. A couple had taken a cart and used it to put there blankets and chairs (that they had been using outside) on. They attempted to run while pushing the cart, but each time they hit a corner they had to stop to put their blankets and chairs back on the cart. They wasted more time trying to keep their stuff in the cart then actually shopping.

I must say, I was entertained just watching people come in the door. Then the interesting stuff started. I have no idea how many customers I pissed off that day, but I guarantee that number is high. I did not intentionally piss them off, but as the day went on, it just happened.

I worked Black Friday about 3 years ago and from what I remembered it was so much fun. People were all over the place and product was all over the place, but no one cared, it was a day for wheeling and dealing. It was a blast.

This year, Black Friday was not the thrill that I remembered it to be.

Yes it was busy and yes it was crazy, but not quite what I expected.

Overall, I must say I am very disappointed in Black Friday, because it really was not that bad. I wanted it to be crazy. I got normality. I wanted a stampede. I got a nice stroll. I wanted something different. I got the same every day routine only with more people.

Maybe next year will be different, but at that point, I may not be in retail any more (at least hopefully).