A Retail Slave's Guide to Working on Black Friday
1:58 PM
- Working the early shift? It's not easy waking up at 3 or 4 AM. Set two alarms just in case, it's better to be annoyed than to oversleep on a day like Black Friday.
- Most Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts don't open until around 6AM so be sure you have access to caffeine if you have to be at work before then! I find that a nice cup of black tea usually does a decent job, and it's easy to make at home when you're only half conscious at 4AM.
- With the extra influx of customers, dressing the part is key. Leave the cute holiday heels at home and don your comfiest shoes. I've heard great things about the Cole Haan Air Bacara flat. Be sure to dress in layers as the fluctuating traffic will cause the temperature in your store to fluctuate. One minute you'll be sweating your buns off climbing in the stock room and the next you're freezing greeting at the front of the store.
- Keep it clean and wash your hands frequently. I like to keep Purell handy. After all, it is cold season and there is often double to triple the amount of customers shopping on Black Friday meaning double to triple the amount of germs floating around. There's nothing worse than getting sick during the thick of the holiday work season.
- It takes a lot to keep up your energy during holiday sales so I keep hydrated, and snack often. I prefer to keep healthy snacks granola and apple sauce packs in my locker and snack throughout the day.
- Above all, keep calm and carry on. I know, that's quite the cliche, but there will be angry customers, there will be customers who are annoyed they actually have to wait in line on the busiest shopping day of the year, and you will possibly be treated like crap but do your best to smile, take a deep breath, and provide the best customer service possible.
Good luck to all my retail workers out there!
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