My very first job was at the Dollar Tree at the mall. That job was followed by more retail jobs in various malls until I finally got a job at a museum. I worked every single Black Friday between the ages of 14 and 21, four of those at one of (possibly the) largest mall in the southeast. Black Friday is retail hell for every person who has to work it.
It is a miserable day. It is a day that often deprives cashiers of a full half hour lunch break (if they even get a break at all). It is a day that doesn't end until the next day because rude customers rip the store to shreds and it takes three times as long as usual to clean it all up.
That said, I have worked 8 Black Fridays in my life and I knew it was part of the retail deal.
Shoppers always converge on stores in droves the day after Thanksgiving. They are inevitably high strung and over emotional, and a few fights are bound to break out over the latest whatzit everyone thinks they have to have. Parking is a nightmare. Crowds of people make it difficult to get to the stuff you actually want to buy and stores intentionally set up displays designed to make you spend more money than you intend to.
I never shop on Black Friday. NEVER. I don't think it's fun. I think it's hell on earth. I think customers are rude and cashiers are frazzled (rightly so). I think stores are a mess and parking lots are traffic jams.
Yet...
This year I am seriously considering shopping on Black Friday. I'm wondering if I'd save enough money to make the headache worth it. I usually do pretty darn well without shopping on Black Friday, but I just wonder...would I save even more if I went shopping at midnight with all the other crazies and would that savings be worth it?
Opinions?
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