End the War -- on Thanksgiving

Huh? I suspect that has nothing to do with it.

 

I just don't get all the protests.

When I worked retail, I begged to work the holidays. Some people need the overtime and double-time to put food on the table, or perhaps give their kids a decent Christmas.

Even working a 12-hour shift, I had time for my family holiday.

And another thing: When I was single, I NEEDED to work on the holiday, if only to take my mind off of being so alone. I needed to be around people.

To each their own.

 

This much I know about Black Friday:

Every year at Wally World, there's an item I'm interested in but that I know won't draw much interest otherwise. There are bigger bargains to be had. And each of the last two seasons, I've been able to get that item three or four days later, still at the Black Friday price.

Got a nice 22-inch HDTV for my room (anything bigger in there would be too large as my room is fairly small) about a week after Black Friday two years ago for the B.F. price, $89.

Last year, got the Magellan GPS for my car at the Walmart in Pittsburg for the B.F. price. In January. And there were still about 20 others there.

This year, if I liked his music, it would be the Garth Brooks boxed set. My roomie told me she and her daughter walked by it at about 5:45 and there was *one* person standing by them. She also said her cashier was in a pleasant mood. She likes being up front on Black Friday because she sees a lot of people and (to her) the time flies by.

 

Last year I was working in NYC on Christmas, the supervisor says, "we are a man short in the bag well for the night, anyone wanna stay for overtime?"

Twelve blank faces looking around the break room, no one wants to stay on Christmas day. They all have families to go home to. I was in NYC on the other side of the country from my family so I said I'd stay, yeah I got paid double time for the three hours OT I did, (OT on premium holidays was double time) but more than that I really didn't wanna be alone at my place.

 

I survived working Black Friday morning at the toy store. My shift started at 5 a.m., and I stood around with my hands in my pockets for about an hour. We didn't get busy util about 9, when the doorbuster sale was over. (Of course, people wanted unsold doorbusters after the sale for the doorbuster price, but too bad.)

Some of the regulars or people who work seasonal every year said that Thursday night was a madhouse. Their opinion: People are voting with their wallets and saying they'd rather shop during normal waking hours than get up a 2 or 3 a.m. on Friday morning. The fact that it's Thanksgiving isn't relevant. They think by next year or maybe another year, Thursday night will have the best doorbusters and Friday will just be a day for good sales, but nothing special.

 

There are protests because, while you wanted to work the holidays, other people are forced to work the holidays, for, what is seen to be, non-essential jobs.

 

Thursday was busier than Friday at the Walmart store in which I work. Which makes sense now.

I loved it. I'm a department manager but spent half the day staging the merchandise, and then, guarding freight, before the Thursday-Black Friday events. I spent the latter part of the night cashiering. I've always enjoyed cashiering but hadn't done it, at all, in quite a while since becoming a department manager.

Loved it. No problems to speak of, it actually was fun, and, as another poster mentioned, the double-time pay was nice, too. I had no complaints.

 

Nobody at the toy store said anything about extra pay, so I imagine it wasn't the case this weekend.

 

I thought of a photo someone sent me, probably photoshopped but it was hilarious. A middle aged dude having been beaten to a pulp but still alert and standing with the caption "saved $15 on a four-slice toaster at Wal-Mart on Black Friday." Anyone seen that?

I got $175 40-inch TV. One of the cheap brands at Wal-Mart. Nervous about it but hey it wasn't that much anyway. Wonder if they'll mount another radical sale with so much of the nation in ice mode. It had to hurt over the weekend.