Why So Many Avoid Black Friday At Walmart

 

From Hiedi:

I had a neighbor ask my why I'm taking this Friday, Sat and Sunday off work (Black Friday weekend) and I'm refusing to leave my home.

I showed her this video. This is a Walmart in Georgia just after midnight on Black Friday. Taken last year.

THIS is why I refuse to leave my home on Black Friday Weekend..

--Hiedi

 

Comments

[Former Healthcare Slave]

I have never gone shopping on Black Friday and this only reinforces that I never will.

[Julia]

I've worked Black Friday in my retail past, but never for one of these psychotic open-in-another-time-zone stores. I have no desire to be around people with such skewed values. Plus, that will be one less person for the poor slaves to deal with. Bah.

[Former Healthcare Slave]

I guess I should have prefaced my comment with the fact that working in healthcare I usually was at work on Black Friday. But even if I wasn't I've never had the desire to leave the house the day after Thanksgiving.

Hope everyone hangs in there until the new year arrives and the custys are transformed back into being just the average jackass rather than the jacked up on OMGit'sChristmasGiveMeWhatIWantNowFoamingAtTheMouth jackass.

[Christine]

OMG. I haven't worked in retail since I worked in a toy store twenty years ago. Thank goodness there was no such thing as black friday back then. I think I would have hid in the store room with my hands covering my head.
God bless all you young people that have to work on this day of craziness. I for one will be home eating leftovers and waiting for the nutz to clear out. Happy Thanksgiving!

[NC Tony]

I never have, do not now, and never will go shopping on Black Friday. I leave my house only to take my wife to work, and pick her up from work (because there's no way she'd get a parking spot anywhere remotely close to her store). Working third shift means by the time I go to work, it's late at night, and the store is pretty much empty of the crazy custys. So like most sane people I only leave the house on Black Friday if I HAVE to.

[LadyBelle]

We live in a fairly small town, so while the store might get a little crowded, people are typically sane. On Thanksgiving day itself, we are lucky to get one or two customers in the Deli the entire day. Corporate has come up with the bright idea that this year we won't close the deli on Thursday night and will instead stay open until 2 am on black Friday. The waste of food and man power will be staggering.

[NoFucksGiven]

how the FUCK did you get black friday weekend off???????????????

[Lunatic Fringe]

It's not like a madhouse everywhere. I've gone a few times and the sales were not amazing, and the traffic jams were very annoying. I went to the mall and Bed Bath & Beyond, and it was just super crowded. I don't see a point. I order most gifts online or pick them up from craft fairs.

[KS]

Last year, women were leaving their children as place holders on top of a large toy they wanted. Meanwhile, the mom would wander off to hold her place on something else. I like to think daddy was just parking and everything was in a controlled situation and dragons are real; keeps me sane.

[Hiedi]

At the dr's office I work at, every Jan I put in for 3 days worth of vacation time for Friday, Sat and Sunday after thanksgiving. We're an urgent care clinic, and I work Thanksgiving day (though by 4, 4:30 I'm heading to where ever turkey day dinner is)

No on I work with thinks to put in vacation day/request days off for the following November in Jan. They don't think of it until May at the earliest, and bam-I've already claimed those days. We are closed Christmas day though.

[Framer-Fatal]

How about because people have died? People have DIED or been Trampled and Crushed for shit they don't need that badly. Is that reason enough?
Plus, I just plain hate people.

[Kay]

Wow. I feel anxious just looking at that crowd.

[PJA]

I could only watch a few seconds of that vid, it made my stomach turn. People acting like animals just to get "stuff" is beyond me. I will never ever shop on black friday.

[MouseMastered]

I shopped on black friday ONCE, just ONCE to see if it was as bad as people said. To be fair, we did it at a best buy in a semi-out-of-the-way strip mall area, so it really wasn't bad. And we only really did it to get a blu-ray player that seems to have mysteriously disappeared during our last move when my mother-in-law hired some shady-ass movers.

[AmigaTech]

"Ahh, nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded."

But what got me about the video is that the people screaming in the background seemed (to me) to be enjoying themselves.

Weird.

--AT

[Red Rider]

I worked Black Friday at Bullseye last year and it was crazy. Thankfully I didn't have to deal with the opening stampede, however I did get run over by a lady with a shopping cart who then cursed me out because I had the nerve to say "Ouch" because it hurt.

I'm pretty much dreading it this year. They've been teaching all the opening people crowd control techniques for the past week or so.

[Kiliana Nightwolf]

Anything who does this on Black Friday is a pathetic loser.

[Spritzy]

All this makes me anna jus curl up in a ball in the corner, cover myself with blankets, and hide for the rest of the day. I'd ratehr pay a few dollars more for something and be able to do it in relative peace, calm and breathing room, than go through all that.

[Hellbound Alleee]

Does anyone here actually think any of that was for gifts for loved ones, and not being resold on ebay or amazon?

[Katie]

It's like this at our store pretty much every black friday. Our store will usually do just about 1.5 million in sales that weekend. We are #1 in our region as far as sales, so its pretty bad as far as sheer numbers. I've worked over 20 Black Friday "events" and its gotten to the point that our store has police in the store to help with crowd control. (they occasionally also escort workers in so we can actually get through) They also have most of our managers and larger (read: muscular and intimidating) male sales associates with the pallets as they are being pulled out, to prevent the worst of the behavior. The past few years, we've dealt with certain scarce items by passing out tickets to the people as they arrive, so that when the tickets run out, customers are out of luck. Of course, there can only be so much security, and several times, people have been pushed around and had their tickets taken from them. I stay back out of the way. I'm entertained by it- even though I also find the behavior appalling. It's like the crowd mentality takes over and people actually fight over things they don't even really want. I like working the event, but I'd NEVER shop it!

[Hiedi]

as the years have gone on, more and more of my christmas shopping is being done online. Or cash. Because of crowds like this.

[Bitch Boy]

My first Black Friday experience (in retail, not food service) convinced me to never, EVER shop on a Black Friday.

To all of you that must work this Friday, my heart goes out to you. Stay safe!

I'd also recommend carrying a personal taser. Check your state and county laws (for USA).