Black (and Blue) Friday

Well, I lived to tell the tale. And honestly, it wasn't as bad as I was dreading. Yes, people were lined up outside the store as early as 1 AM (we opened at 5). And people rushed in to get that unbeatable deal (*scoffs*) on electronics and toys. But they weren't as rude as I expected. Truthfully, I get bigger bitches in the store on any given Thursday than I encountered on Black Friday.

There was, however, the absolutely INSANE lady in jewelry. I had avoided jewelry all day because I knew it was going to be nuts. But, when others had to go on breaks, I had to help cover the department. This woman was YELLING. Not in an angry way, but in a way that made me think she was hard of hearing and didn't realize how loud she was speaking. She asked for a ring in our ad that was featured for $29.99. It was 1/10 of a carat diamond ring set in sterling silver. "Regular" price was $119.99.

(Now, this was YELLED with an I'm-an-old-lady-who's-not-from-Texas-but-sounds-like-a-Texan-hick accent.)

"Do you have any more of these hear $29.99 rings?"
"Yes, they're right over here in this case if you'd like to step around."
"How many do you have left?"
"I'll need to look and check."
[Pause, as I begin to unlock the first lock on the case.]
"How many of those rings do you have left?"
"I'm checking now, give me just a second."
[I have undone the first lock, and was removing the second and sliding open the door.]
"How many of those rings did you say you had left? I wanted to know how many you had left."
"I understand, ma'am. I'm trying to get into the case to see. You'll need to wait just a minute."
"Oh."
[I count the rings, find out there are 3 left in the case, and pull one out for her to look at. Then close and lock the case.]
"I wanted to see that ring."
"I know, I have one right here for you."
"Did you get one of those for me to look at?"
"Yes, it's right here."

She looks at the ring, tries it on, tells me 5 times how well it fits (even though I can see it sliding around in circle on her finger and the big gap at the bottom). She asks me a dozen times if it's the cheapest diamond we have. At first, I told her that the prices varied, and there may be something cheaper, but I'd have to scan the entire inventory to know for sure. Then when she kept asking, I finally told her that it was, because I knew that if I didn't, she'd keep bugging me and I just wanted her to go away. It got to the point that I just said yes to anything she asked to get her to shut up. And then I gave the ring to the other girl there to ring up and went on my lunch break.

Aside from that, though, there isn't anything crazy to report. I had to work from 4 AM to 2 PM and for the most part, I just wandered in circles, picking up slippers off the floor.

I can guarantee, however, that unless I find myself working in retail at this time next year, this will be first and last year that I will be in a store on Black Friday.