The Holiday Season

     The holidays are the most joyous part of the year, unless of course you are working retail.  Christmas songs become jammed into our skulls. Our social lives all but disappear.  And the once in a while obnoxious customer becomes the every other obnoxious customer. 

     Everyone is the same; everyone waits until the last minute to do their holiday shopping, and worst than that, they wait to do it until late at night when you’re trying to get the store ready for the next day.  What this translates into is thousands of people who are out of time to shop, and are looking to be every employees center of attention.  They expect the fastest most efficient service possible from what are almost always strained, understaffed employees.

     Working retail during the holidays can be even worse if you are employed as a seasonal employee just for the holiday season.  You will undoubtedly be given minimal training and then be expected to fulfill requests without the proper knowledge to do so.

     For example, last year, my first day as a seasonal employee at Toys R Us was Black Friday, which we all know is the single craziest day out of the year. I didn’t know where a single thing was, or how to look anything up, and since I was brand spanking new, it was hard to get other, more experienced employees to stop and help me out. Even this year, when, once again, I was re-hired for the holidays, I was promised to be trained to use the cash register. Now, granted, I’ve had plenty of experience using a cash register, just not at Toys R Us. However, now that I’ve been there for a bit, I’ve come to the realization that not being taught how to use the registers is a blessing in disguise, considering the fact that after ringing up customers for hours on end, most of the cashiers look like they’d rather jump off the nearest bridge, especially after they have to deal with customers who are angry over mispriced items. But couple this with the insane amounts of demands and expectations for customers and you are guaranteed for a stress-filled holiday of employment. And, on top of that, half of the seasonal employees will be laid off after the hours dry up. That’s why I, my friends, try to be the best possible employee I can, especially during the holidays.