Black Friday, the time of the year during the holiday season that is a retail employee’s worst nightmare. It doesn’t matter if you have a morning, mid, or closing shift. The whole “holiday” is a nightmare.

With technology becoming such a huge thing now, you would think not a lot of people would be shopping in-person; however, there is still tons of people that come into stores just to get all the “great deals.”

During my Black Friday shift, I was asked multiple times “if it was busy earlier?” After giving them my response, they were surprised more people didn’t shop online; however, here they are shopping in-person like everyone else.

The “great deals” that many stores have to offer during Black Friday are the same deals that have been going on for weeks or months before the holiday. People just get this sudden urge to shop because of this special American consumer holiday that has been going on for decades.

Compared to the Black Friday I experienced this year, it wasn’t as chaotic like the first Black Friday I experienced last year.

Last year, I worked at a more budget-friendly store. This store had long lines that would stretch from the front to the back of the store. Also had multiple customers try to steal or make a run with whatever they are holding. All employees were also on the floor throughout the day. The first set of employees would get there at 4 a.m. and the next set would get there at 4 p.m.

This year, being at a more selective department store, it was still busy; however, it was more organized and had better communication than the other store. For this Black Friday, I actually knew what needed to be done, then last year when I had no clue.

It was also a different experience because last year, my role was mainly on the floor doing recovery and backing up the registers when necessary. This year, my role was at customer service mainly doing curbside and in-store pick up. When needed I would hop on the register to cover someone’s break or when it was necessary.

The only similarity to both Black Friday’s was how busy the store was and how much my feet hurt after my shift.

When you shop next Black Friday or just in general, be nice to your fellow retail employees. They are having a tough and long day just like everyone else.