The day before Thanksgiving in the US is Black Friday for grocery stores. Just as I finish unloading all my groceries a manager comes over to speak to the young woman cashier.

Manager: “Aren’t you way overdue for your meal break? Take it!”

Cashier: *Plaintively.* “I really am and I’m starving, thank you.”

The manager puts a closed sign on her till and speaks to the customers behind me while pointing at me:

Manager: “This lane is closed after this customer. Please move to the next register, which I will open when I finish with this cashier.”

The customer behind me immediately starts whining.

Customer: “There’s a bunch of people in that other line! I’ve already been waiting!”

She’s been there maybe five minutes, which I know because I am standing right next to her. I don’t know how the manager could’ve been more obvious that she was going to personally walk over there and open another till and create a new line.

Fortunately, the manager just repeated what she said and finished helping out my cashier so she could finish up my order.

It’s a day before Thanksgiving. Don’t expect to bounce in and out at any place that sells food!

Dear readers,

It’s that time of year again – when the prices are low, and some customers’ behavior is even lower. That’s right: it’s Black Friday! Whether you’ll be spending this day navigating the crowds, prepping for Cyber Monday deals, or just lounging at home and enjoying a turkey hangover, we hope you have a safe and happy Black Friday that brings you whatever you’re looking for!

Please enjoy these 15 stories from our archives about Black Friday madness!

Error 404: Sympathy Not Found – These people really don’t have any self-awareness at all, do they?

Fake Coupon Gets You Fake Service – Why would they purposely keep you there longer, lady?!

General Managers Are Generally Annoying – Even when you have no customers, Black Friday sucks when you work retail.

(more…)

CONTENT WARNING: Injury

I am working on Black Friday in the clothes department at a big grocery store in a small town. For two straight hours before the sale begins, people hover over the pallets. The alarm goes off and the swarm just goes insane.

There are two women in particular on opposite sides, tossing clothes back and forth to each other. I don’t know what their system is because half the stuff they are just catching and tossing aside.

A little teenager — a petite, tiny girl — intercepts a pair of jeans being tossed and the women just go f****** insane. They elbow her in the face — instant blood. The little girl is so shocked she just stands there shaking and crying. The women act like that was a perfectly reasonable thing to do.

I pull the girl out of the crowd and start to walk her to get her cleaned up when the sheriff appears out of nowhere. (I recognize him; it’s a small town.)

It turns out the teenager is his kid, and the women are arrested on the spot.

When the girl came back for more shopping, she told me that the women had to post bail and pay full price for their s***ty jeans.

Reading this story reminded me of when I observed something similar. It’s the day after Black Friday. I absolutely avoided the chaos of the day before and have decided to go shopping on a normal day. (I don’t care about the sales.)

I am in line to purchase a specific type of cable I need for my TV, and the woman in front of me seems to be giving the cashier grief.

Customer: “But Marlene told me this was half-price!”

Cashier: “Ma’am, as I have explained multiple times, I don’t know who Marlene is, and she certainly doesn’t work here. This item was half-price, but that was yesterday. Today, the price has returned to normal.”

Customer: “Nuh-uh. I need this for the sale price! I couldn’t make it out yesterday! I was over at the mall at [Other Side Of Town] because their sales were better than yours.”

Cashier: “I am sorry you couldn’t make it to two malls in a single day, ma’am, but there is nothing I can do.”

Customer: “You will give me this for half-price, or I will—”

Cashier: “You will do nothing.”

Customer: “What did you say to me?!”

Cashier: “I said you will do nothing — because I don’t work here anymore. Congratulations: you’re the one that made me do it. Yesterday, I worked twelve hours all night long to deal with crazies like you. I had to stop a physical fight over a TV and almost got punched in the process. All of the cars in the employee parking lot got keyed last night by an angry customer who didn’t get the laptop they thought they deserved. Yesterday, I was shouted at, spat on, and physically threatened, and I got through it all because I thought it was just one day. Well, you just proved that it’s not going to end, so I quit. Congratulations. I got through all of last night, but you’re the one that made me do it.”

The cashier then simply stands up, walks away, and then turns to me.

Cashier: “Sorry.”

They leave their work apron at customer service and simply walk outside.

Customer: *To me* “How unprofessional! You saw that, right?!”

Me: “I did! And I’m sticking close to you until you leave in case you complain to a manager and lie about how badly you just behaved.”

The customer blinked, realized I was siding with the poor cashier who had just snapped, and walked out of the store herself. I hope that poor cashier is okay and gets over whatever Black Friday did to them soon.

Related:
Overworked, Underpaid, Shouted At, And Nerves Frayed

Our store is relatively high-end and so attracts a certain type of customer. Every Black Friday, we have a very good sale which attracts a lot of shoppers who normally can’t afford our items — I know I can’t normally! — but this also seems to not be very appreciated by our regular clientele.

Customer: *Immovable sneer on his face* “Why are there so many… other people here today?”

Me: “It’s Black Friday. It’s a very popular sale, so we get a lot of customers!”

Customer: “But… if they can’t afford it normally, they shouldn’t come in at all!”

Me: “Well… it’s nice to have an occasional sale to give everyone a chance to try our products.”

Customer: “You shouldn’t have so many sales!”

Me: “It’s only once a year, sir.”

Customer: “But it cheapens the experience!”

Me: “Then it’s working, sir!”

The customer realizes what he has just said.

Customer: “That’s… Ugh, that’s not what I meant! I’ll be back when the riffraff have moved on!”

He stormed out, sneer intact.