Black Friday
Well, I've witnessed it first hand now: Raw, pure Capitalism in its hottest form. Yes, I stood in awe at the east entrance of the Kohl's store, just out off to the side and watched as hundreds of crazed sleep deprived women burst through the doors at 5 AM. The air was charged with estrogen and the palpable hope that we'd have just one more 8" portable DVD player, maybe in the back? For seven minutes people streamed in- seven minutes at both entrances, the frenzied wide-eyed free for all raged on and there was nothing I could do but stand back and take it all in.
I’d been there since midnight, operating on hot coffee and three hours of sleep. Sam and I had vacuumed the floors, washed down the windows and mirrors, cleaned the bathrooms and taken out the trash in every department by 4 AM. Cars had been circling the parking lot as early as 1 AM and we took this as an ominous sign of what was to come. Many of the cashiers had never worked retail on the Day After and couldn’t believe the line that was forming out in the cold. For my part, having worked a Wal-Mart once back in 1999, the line was no surprise. We only had one trampling that year, and a couple fights, but Kohl’s was nowhere near as big a place, so I figured on having no trouble here. Thankfully, I was right.
The first lady through the door looked unsure of herself, a mixture of flushed emotion and the realization that for just a split second the whole store was hers. She disappeared into the Men’s department. A few bedraggled husbands made it through next and quickly stepped near me to get out of the way. They’d done their part running blockade for the wives, it was time to let them to do their thing. Two minutes after the doors opened was all it took to get our first transaction. This woman was smart; she’d come in the side entrance, grabbed some electronic gizmo she claimed was for her husband and dove through the stream of bodies still pouring through the front doors. She’d obviously planned out her strategy the day before.
My next three hours were a blur, but a happy blur at that. I have to admit, I really do like helping people get what they want. There’s just something about it I can’t rightly explain. I carried items out to cars, sacked for cashiers, ran upstairs to get vacuum cleaners, took people to empty towers to show them there wasn’t anymore of their desired item and so on. One older lady was so concerned she wouldn’t get one of our huge 11-in-1 gamming tables that she raised a fit with the cashier. I came over, put the table on hold and assured her she could have the thing when it was her turn in line. That’s all she needed to hear. And speaking of lines… well, let’s not.
In all, it was a good time, but I was glad to go home when I did. The store took in somewhere over $400,000 for the day or so I’m told. Four hundred thousand dollars, a lot of cash! Makes me wonder what I did with that 401k paper work…
I’d been there since midnight, operating on hot coffee and three hours of sleep. Sam and I had vacuumed the floors, washed down the windows and mirrors, cleaned the bathrooms and taken out the trash in every department by 4 AM. Cars had been circling the parking lot as early as 1 AM and we took this as an ominous sign of what was to come. Many of the cashiers had never worked retail on the Day After and couldn’t believe the line that was forming out in the cold. For my part, having worked a Wal-Mart once back in 1999, the line was no surprise. We only had one trampling that year, and a couple fights, but Kohl’s was nowhere near as big a place, so I figured on having no trouble here. Thankfully, I was right.
The first lady through the door looked unsure of herself, a mixture of flushed emotion and the realization that for just a split second the whole store was hers. She disappeared into the Men’s department. A few bedraggled husbands made it through next and quickly stepped near me to get out of the way. They’d done their part running blockade for the wives, it was time to let them to do their thing. Two minutes after the doors opened was all it took to get our first transaction. This woman was smart; she’d come in the side entrance, grabbed some electronic gizmo she claimed was for her husband and dove through the stream of bodies still pouring through the front doors. She’d obviously planned out her strategy the day before.
My next three hours were a blur, but a happy blur at that. I have to admit, I really do like helping people get what they want. There’s just something about it I can’t rightly explain. I carried items out to cars, sacked for cashiers, ran upstairs to get vacuum cleaners, took people to empty towers to show them there wasn’t anymore of their desired item and so on. One older lady was so concerned she wouldn’t get one of our huge 11-in-1 gamming tables that she raised a fit with the cashier. I came over, put the table on hold and assured her she could have the thing when it was her turn in line. That’s all she needed to hear. And speaking of lines… well, let’s not.
In all, it was a good time, but I was glad to go home when I did. The store took in somewhere over $400,000 for the day or so I’m told. Four hundred thousand dollars, a lot of cash! Makes me wonder what I did with that 401k paper work…
posted by BigDan67 | 5:21 PM
1 Comments:
Shopping is a dangerous sport...which is why I steer clear of any mall or retail store.
Thanks for your comment about my father's blog. Every good idea I've ever had has only been something that he has said before.
Blessings.
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