Holiday shopping is in full swing which puts a lot of strain on retail workers. The sale prices are exceptionally low and ready for last minute shoppers.
Retail employees spend endless hours preparing for the excessive crowds and the lowest prices of the season. They work all day and night with little breaks and then spend countless amount of hours dealing with cranky customers and tough working conditions.
Cassandra Lewis worked for Old Navy for a year which included a decent amount of time working during the hectic holiday season.
She told Woodside World, “ I worked nine hour shift after nine hour after nine hour after nine hour, like, the entire month of December was a blackout month meaning nobody could request days off, so yeah, basically whenever they needed us we were there.”
Despite the crazy shoppers, the people she worked with made it easier to get through the long hours.
She said, “Well we had like meal breaks and lunches and stuff. But i don’t know. The employees made it not so awful i mean the working conditions they weren’t terrible. But i mean it was the holidays it was stressful so.”
The holiday sales were at exceptionally low prices since Thanksgiving when it all began. Many stores lower their prices enough to make it noticeable, but Old Navy made their sales beyond low.
Cassie explained, “Uh I think for black friday we did fifty percent off the entire store. And that’s not like yeah that’s a pretty good sale, but I mean there are always sales. So I don’t know if it was better or worse.”
The holiday craziness begins early and most people focus on the upcoming sales and what to buy for their loved ones at Christmas, but the workers at your beloved stores are struggling with the stress of customers and juggling other aspects of their lives besides selling clothes.
The holidays give people a different kind of attitude and spirit which can sometimes be good or bad. “It was just a lot busier. The customers were a lot meaner. Everyone had an agenda. And they were working time was running out like no other like it was crazy,” said Cassie about the hectic stores and holiday spirit.
