Christmas in Retail

Never. Again.

My day started sleepily. I stayed up until 4:30 this morning wrapping presents, so 8:30 came way too early. After church, we hung around and chatted for so long, I had about thirty minutes before I had to leave for work once I got home. I got in about a ten-minute power nap, and grabbed some Doritos on the way to work to tide me over until my Taco Bell break.

I walked into the seventh circle of hell- I mean, Borders- and fought my way through the crowds, all the while internally repeating the mantra, "I will not let myself get stressed out today. I love Christmas. I will smile, and I will mean it. I will not let myself get stressed out today..." And it worked- for an hour. By three o'clock, I had to get off the floor for a few minutes before I kicked someone in the knee. That was 1 hour down, 8½ more to go.

People are idiots. Apparently, it's OUR fault that the store was packed and the lines were long on the Sunday before Christmas. Because that NEVER happens anywhere else. Granted, normally we have a lot more help for the holidays, but times are tough, and even retail is feeling the pinch. We just had to cut back this year.

Nobody had their Borders Rewards cards with them, so we had to look them up with their email addresses. Which is time-consuming in and of itself, but when they have fifteen email addresses and they don't remember which one they signed up with, it can take forever. And of course, nobody can pry their cell phones from their ears while they are paying for merchandise, so you have to wait for a break in their conversation to conduct business. To make matters worse, the powers that be decided to re-implement the "new" ordering system that had already failed once this year right at Christmastime. It is very slow and very inconvenient for customers and employees alike. This is made all the more difficult when the customer is 80 years old, semi-blind, and completely unfamiliar with internet ordering. I recited the fruits of the Spirit in my head a lot today.

AND I was sleepy. AND everyone else was stressed, so we were all biting each others' heads off. AND liquor stores are closed on Sundays.

Never. Again.

I am going to bed now to sleep away this stressful, exhausting day. And I can only hope that I won't wake up with one of the songs from the Harry Connick Jr. Christmas CD that the store played incessantly all day. "I'm Santa-riffic, if I do say so!"