Paint It Black
And so the Holiday season begins.
Today was Black Friday. Black Friday, for all the fortunate people who have never worked in retail, is the day after Thanksgiving, and is typically the busiest shopping day of the year (in terms of customer traffic). I had to be up at 4 fucking AM, because I agreed to come into work at 6 AM (when they opened), but wanted to get there at 5 to get my registers ready.
Once the store opened and I started ringing, I nearly committed homicide about five times alone in the first half hour. Michaels ran a 25% off coupon (that lasted until 9 AM), but we weren't honoring it, which pissed people off. We ran a 60% off coupon that customers tried to abuse (and, I'm sure in many cases, did abuse), by taking it to other registers, even though it says "ONE PER DAY." There were fights with people who wanted the coupon on sale items. The fact that no customer left the store in a body bag is a testiment to my greatness, and something I should let the management know when it comes time for my raise.
Actually, all things considered, it wasn't too bad. It was kinda fun, actually. We had a lot of cashiers, and we all worked together to get through the day. I felt particularly apprecitative to Sue Anne the office lady who covered nearly ALL of the breaks on my end (despite the fact that she'll probably have to stay till god knows when), and Jason the wood merchandiser, who went outside in the freezing cold to look for carriages. Plus, there was pizza, and I got out at 3, three hours earlier than I normally do. I had a nice nap, and woke up just in time for Smackdown (which was alright, but not really what I was expecting).
The Saturday afterwards is also a really busy day in retail. Sometimes it can as busy (if not even busier) than Black Friday. I remember three years ago at work, Black Friday was a disappointment, while the Saturday right after it was our busiest day ever (to that point). I'm sure that tomorrow, the staff will have to deal with cunts trying to use the 60% coupon (which was today only), more arguments over sale items and the usual loads of screaming kids, undersexed soccer mums and bored teenagers loitering the mall. The only thing I'll have to deal with, meanwhile, is trying to decide when to get out of bed and what to eat.
In other news, Thanksgiving was okay, I suppose. Didn't do anything really exciting. I wanted to go to the cinema and see The Ice Harvest, but didn't get around to it. Instead, I watched The Deer Hunter. Good lord what an overrated film. I also watched the Garfield Thanksgiving special and...fuck I forgot to watch the Charlie Brown one. I taped it, then forgot about it. Shite. Anyway, the Garfield one was quite good; it was certainly better the crap Halloween one, but not half as good as the Christmas special which I love to death. Nice touch.
Couple of sad notes. Pat Morita has died. Interestingly enough, I was just watching a VCD with '80s commercials on it, and I saw one for a PPV airing of The Karate Kid III. It's too bad, he was a great actor, and I credit the success of the series more to him than to Ralph Macchio.
And, for Alias fans, the show will be ending in May. I should really get around to watching it one day. I think it's amusing that ABC puts it after Lost last year, it gets its best ratings, then it slips after they change the timeslot and they decide to end it. I haven't seen anything after the first season, though, so it may be due for an end (lord knows the X-Files certainly was after their fifth season).
In other TV news, I finally finished the O.C. Season 2, and, despite the season not being nearly good as the first (something that Seth practically acknowleged in one episode), it had lots of good moments and the finale was excellent, probably the best episode in the series. I never thought I could get worked up over an intervention, but they handled it really nicely. I'll try to get caught up with Reunion next, after I finish MR-75.
I'm off to try to find tracks for my Christmas mix CD.
Today was Black Friday. Black Friday, for all the fortunate people who have never worked in retail, is the day after Thanksgiving, and is typically the busiest shopping day of the year (in terms of customer traffic). I had to be up at 4 fucking AM, because I agreed to come into work at 6 AM (when they opened), but wanted to get there at 5 to get my registers ready.
Once the store opened and I started ringing, I nearly committed homicide about five times alone in the first half hour. Michaels ran a 25% off coupon (that lasted until 9 AM), but we weren't honoring it, which pissed people off. We ran a 60% off coupon that customers tried to abuse (and, I'm sure in many cases, did abuse), by taking it to other registers, even though it says "ONE PER DAY." There were fights with people who wanted the coupon on sale items. The fact that no customer left the store in a body bag is a testiment to my greatness, and something I should let the management know when it comes time for my raise.
Actually, all things considered, it wasn't too bad. It was kinda fun, actually. We had a lot of cashiers, and we all worked together to get through the day. I felt particularly apprecitative to Sue Anne the office lady who covered nearly ALL of the breaks on my end (despite the fact that she'll probably have to stay till god knows when), and Jason the wood merchandiser, who went outside in the freezing cold to look for carriages. Plus, there was pizza, and I got out at 3, three hours earlier than I normally do. I had a nice nap, and woke up just in time for Smackdown (which was alright, but not really what I was expecting).
The Saturday afterwards is also a really busy day in retail. Sometimes it can as busy (if not even busier) than Black Friday. I remember three years ago at work, Black Friday was a disappointment, while the Saturday right after it was our busiest day ever (to that point). I'm sure that tomorrow, the staff will have to deal with cunts trying to use the 60% coupon (which was today only), more arguments over sale items and the usual loads of screaming kids, undersexed soccer mums and bored teenagers loitering the mall. The only thing I'll have to deal with, meanwhile, is trying to decide when to get out of bed and what to eat.
In other news, Thanksgiving was okay, I suppose. Didn't do anything really exciting. I wanted to go to the cinema and see The Ice Harvest, but didn't get around to it. Instead, I watched The Deer Hunter. Good lord what an overrated film. I also watched the Garfield Thanksgiving special and...fuck I forgot to watch the Charlie Brown one. I taped it, then forgot about it. Shite. Anyway, the Garfield one was quite good; it was certainly better the crap Halloween one, but not half as good as the Christmas special which I love to death. Nice touch.
Couple of sad notes. Pat Morita has died. Interestingly enough, I was just watching a VCD with '80s commercials on it, and I saw one for a PPV airing of The Karate Kid III. It's too bad, he was a great actor, and I credit the success of the series more to him than to Ralph Macchio.
And, for Alias fans, the show will be ending in May. I should really get around to watching it one day. I think it's amusing that ABC puts it after Lost last year, it gets its best ratings, then it slips after they change the timeslot and they decide to end it. I haven't seen anything after the first season, though, so it may be due for an end (lord knows the X-Files certainly was after their fifth season).
In other TV news, I finally finished the O.C. Season 2, and, despite the season not being nearly good as the first (something that Seth practically acknowleged in one episode), it had lots of good moments and the finale was excellent, probably the best episode in the series. I never thought I could get worked up over an intervention, but they handled it really nicely. I'll try to get caught up with Reunion next, after I finish MR-75.
I'm off to try to find tracks for my Christmas mix CD.