Home Away From Home for the Holiday

Due to my dedication to my job, I decided to not even bother requesting off for the holidays this year. I felt that if I asked off they might grant my request and find someone else to replace me in my absence which I cannot risk due to the fact that I like my job and need a pay check. I did not think this would bother me. I am 21 years old, my parents need to get used to not seeing me every holiday which I am sure will be the case in years to come after school ends and life goes on. My little sister left Boca Raton without me and got to enjoy a leisurely week away from life and school as I worked many hours and worked on my Broadcast project. My cable went out as it turns out the bill had not been paid on time and since Comcast apparently has a few days off for the holidays, there was no one to assist me in getting it turned on as I sat in solitude and watched Disney movies alone in my apartment. The roommates went to see their family and I hustled through Public at 9 PM the night before Thanksgiving trying to salvage a holiday meal outside of cereal and left over pizza. I missed my parents as it turned out and tried my best to stay occupied but I am conditioned to want to see my family for the holidays as I have done in years past. This weekend I requested time off in December. Who cares if I eat Roman noodles all of December due to the lack of hours in my pay check. Family is important and I need them.

Black Friday, Five Days Strong

It would not be a fulfilled experience in retail if I had not been forced to endure Black Friday. The unique thing about my Black Friday was that it lasted roughly five days.

This year it was common for retailers to extend their Black Friday deals throughout the weekend. In Gap's case, it began last Wednesday and lasted through the weekend.

The Wednesday before Black Friday is called White Wednesday, which I learned as I saw the traffic throughout the mall increase over the hours I worked as the window shoppers came to spot out the good deals for Friday's chaos.

We had a buy one get one free promotion that seemed to catch on in the course of five days. It was estimated that $70,000 would be spent in Gap on Friday. I am not sure of how close we came to reaching that goal but the doors opened at 8 am and by 11 am we had $25,000 in sales.

That blows my mind to think that such a large amount of money could be gained even when a BOGO is going on.

I did not get to celebrate the joys of shopping this year due to my participation on the sales associate side of things, but I can say I have never been so worn out for screaming a promotion at the top of my lungs for hours at at time as I was on Friday.

By Sunday, I was to the point where I nearly did not want to utter the words, "Buy One Sweater Get One Sweater Free, as well as pajama bottoms, and anything that is marked down through out the store is an additional forty percent off..."

It is difficult just to type nonetheless say nonstop to every person that comes into the store with a smile on. I learned that I am extremly long winded this past weekend and hope to never work a Black Friday again. I already look forward to spending some money myself next year.