By Abby Aldrich
Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is recognized as the first day of Christmas shopping where crowds are drawn in by special offers and deals by retailers.
For customers, it is the day to lace up those tennis shoes and wait in long lines to land some door buster deals. To employees, it is absolute chaos.
Madeleine Phillips, a junior elementary education major from Flowermound, Texas, worked at Aeropostale in the Grapevine Mills Outlet Mall. Phillips worked a 12-hour shift from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.; then came back at noon and worked until 8 p.m.
“It was very hard to work those overnight hours and remain alert and friendly,” Phillips said.
Phillips said during the course of her shift, customers would throw clothes from the displays on the floor and argue with her over prices. Some were climbing on the gate to get inside before the store even opened.
Railey Dawson, a junior education major from Keller, Texas, dealt with many of the same problems during her Black Friday shift at Dick’s Sporting Goods at Alliance Town Center in Fort Worth. Dawson said the people were frustrated, rushed, tired and annoying.
“The store would be a wreck,” Dawson said. “The people are rud,e and the managers are going crazy. It would go by so fast due to it being so frantic, and I was constantly doing something or getting yelled at.”
Dawson worked Black Friday at Dick’s Sporting Goods for two years. Since Dick’s opened the night of Thanksgiving, Dawson was required to be there around 4 p.m. and wouldn’t get off until 2 a.m. Then she had to be back at the store for Black Friday, six hours later.
One of the worst parts about working on Thanksgiving or Black Friday is missing time spent with family.
“Honestly, it’s not worth it,” Dawson said. “It’s supposed to be a wonderful holiday spent with family and friends.”
In 2014, 87 million shoppers ventured out into stores on Black Friday. Americans spent $12.29 billion over the two-day period.
Katie Hays, a junior nursing major from San Antonio, took on the Black Friday madness.
Two years ago, Hays and her mother went to Target to get the new Xbox One for Hay’s brother. She said she cut in front of about 150 people in line, who were all waiting to get inside.
Then, the doors opened.
“Without hesitating, I just started running to the electronics and pushed a grown man out of my way so I could get there faster,” Hays said. “I ended up getting the last Xbox they had and I was so excited.”
Phillips said working Black Friday has given her a new perspective on retail and the employees who have to work over the holiday.
“It’s a lot to ask for someone to work 12 hours overnight and get disrespected like the way I was,” Phillips said.
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