Let the Shopping Begin!!!

I like Thanksgiving. Really. I get to spend the day with family and overindulge in things like mashed potatoes and stuffing and cranberry sauce. Of course, Thanksgiving Day is just the eve of the big holiday shopping season, so it is a mixed blessing. It means I'll work a 10 hr. day on Friday, since it's one of the really, really big retail days.

This year, I worked 5 a.m. to 3:30. Hundreds of people were lined up outside the doors when we opened them at 6. Running into the store. We all just stand there, staring and laughing, and watch them pour in for a good five or ten minutes. We all know that if it weren't for the fact that we HAVE to be there, we'd all be tucked in our beds at that hour and not out shopping. But it's still fun and exciting to watch. We've been planning for this day for weeks, if not months, and now we get to see if all our planning was worth it. We cheer the first customer that comes through the front checkout, then we start the real days work.

For me, that means taking care of all the help lights. Getting change, getting numbers and/or prices for things that aren't scanning right, answering customer questions, helping cashiers handle transactions that are either unfamiliar or that are a smidge on the tricky side, especially if this is only your second or third day of cashiering. It's keeping an eye on endcaps that blow out and need rebuilt or replenished. Making sure that abandoned merchandise gets picked up and taken back to be sorted out. Making sure everyone is getting their breaks and lunches on time. Making sure the bathrooms don't get too god-awful messy (and people ARE so messy you need to be checking every 20-30 minutes). Making sure that carts are being brought in and the parking lot swept for them as often and as quickly as possible (we DO actually run out of carts for a few moments at a time that day we're so busy). Processing credit applications and coordinating carryouts for big items and very large multi-cart purchases. Letting the people in charge of skimming the extra money out of the registers know when it's time for them to do their thing. Lots and lots of non-stop running all day long, pretty much for 10 hrs straight.

This year, I wore my pedometer to work, just to see how many steps I took. The final count was 11, 315. That's a lot of walking! But eventually, the day comes to an end when you open, and you get to clock out and leave the madness behind. Go home and put your feet up and rest for the next day. Or just conk out at 7:30 and sleep like the dead until about 5:30 the following morning! When you get to go back and do it all again. But only for 8 hrs. and not until 7:30. And by comparison with the preceeding day, it seems slow and not very busy. You replenish all of your supplies, like bags, pens and register tape. Fill gift cards and trading cards and candy. And look forward to your next day off!