3 a.m. That’s the time I will be heading into work after enjoying a lovely Thanksgiving dinner with my family. That’s when the madness will begin.
Working at MC Sports, I’m not expecting anything crazy to happen. Last year went off without any fists being thrown, any large fights erupting or people stampeding. Being a sporting goods store in outdoorsy Big Rapids, though, we were fairly busy.
I’ve never quite understood the whole Black Friday idea. Was it really necessary to ruin a traditional, family holiday with a societally mandated need to run from store to store in a greedy frenzy at all hours of the night?
I know. It’s all about the deals, right? To some, it may be un-American for me to not rejoice in the holiday. I’ve just never been a part of the craze – not until I had to cashier for it last year.
Many people never went to bed. Some were at their fifth or sixth store already at 5 a.m. and others spent close to a thousand dollars in our store alone.
Despite the crowds and rush of people, I was astonished by one characteristic in particular: everyone was nice. Maybe it was the deals they were getting or the early Christmas cheer. Whatever the case, of every single customer I helped check out, maybe one was rude to me the whole day.
That fact astonished me. On an average cashier shift at work, at least one or two people are blatantly rude and self-entitled. So naturally, I had braced myself for the worst – but I guess I didn’t need to.
This year, I will work from 3 a.m. to 2 p.m. (an hour earlier this year). Now despite the fact that I like my sleep and don’t really understand the need for the holiday, I can say that at least I’m not dreading it this year. Maybe I’ll get to meet some friendly, interesting individuals.
That, and all of the associates have an amazing potluck going on in the back. Thank goodness for Thanksgiving leftovers!