Ahhh I'm gonna miss Black Friday this year. My one Black Friday at Target was probably the single craziest experience of my life, and I'm honestly surprised I made it out alive. I live in one of the very few states that forbids us to open on Thanksgiving, but that didn't really help much. My Thanksgiving/Black Friday went something like this last year:
Wednesday, November 25th:
Sleep in, then get up around ten, have breakfast, watch some TV, throw on the TPS uniform, and head into Target for a 2-8 shift (we closed the store early to set up for Black Friday). At this time, I was living about two hours from the majority of my family, who live on the other half of the state, this comes in later.
8:00 PM: After a fairly uneventful shift, we close the store, throw everyone out, and start setting up. It's a bitterly cold New England night, and I end up outside setting up metal crowd barricades around the building for an hour and a half, then go inside and set up the interior barricades for another hour and a half.
11:00 PM: Do some panicked last-minute merch protection, make sure everything's in place, and sprint to TSC to punch out before midnight, since Target will get hit with a huge fine if any team members are in the store on Thanksgiving, even at 12:01 AM.
Thursday, November 26th (Thanksgiving)
12:10 AM: With the store cleared out, I shoot the shit with my fellow AP TM's and the ETL's in the parking lot. Make the stupid decision to go out for drinks and appetizers with them (restaurants can be open on Thanksgiving). Make the smart decision not to drink, since I'm going to be driving back home to be with my family on Thanksgiving day.
1:45 AM: Extricate myself from the party and start the two-hour drive back to the family home.
2:30 AM: Get pulled over, probably because the trooper assumes I'm up to no good since I'm the only person on the highway at this hour. Explain the situation, cop wishes me a happy Thanksgiving, and I go on my way without a ticket.
3:45 AM: Arrive at my mother's house, sneak in so not to wake her up, and pass out in my old bed (she new I was coming, so it wasn't weird).
8:00 AM: Get up with about four hours sleep, shower, say hi to mom and brother, help make food all day.
2:00 PM: Head over to the grandmother's house for Thanksgiving dinner, eat a ton, catch up with the family. Plan to go to sleep for a few hours later before heading back to Target.
6:00 PM: Uncle suggests we all go to a movie. Stupidly, I agree. Don't get out of movie til around 9.
9:40 PM: Arrive home, throw on TPS uniform and drive two hours back to Target.
11:45 PM: Arrive to see line snaking around the building. Stay in another bitter New England cold for a few minutes, since we still can't be in the building until Thanksgiving is officially over.
Friday, November 27th
12:05 AM: Punch in, gear up, and head outside with ETL-AP and another TPS for crowd control. Get cursed at and called an idiot because I don't know where every tiny item in the store is, refuse to let people in early, and won't let people jump the line. Off-duty police officer we hired has to threaten somebody with a taser to stop them from climbing over the barrier to attack me.
1:00 AM: Doors open, everyone rushes in with minimal injury (yay). When the front clears, I head back to electronics to ensure order. Once again get yelled at and threatened because nobody understands how a line works. Catch a kid trying to shove a video game down his pants and make him pay for it because "nobody wants that shit now, it's been down your pants". He complies.
3:00 AM: Store is suddenly dead. Spend the next several hours sweeping for empty packages (find a ton) removing crowd barriers, and generally examining the destruction. Drink two Red Bulls to stay awake.
8:00 AM: people get their second wind. Guzzle another Red Bull and stand at the front conducting receipt checks all day. By this point, I'm almost falling asleep standing up. At some point several hours in, a guy tries to push two TV's out the door past me, but even in my half-asleep state, I catch him. Grab the cart, demand a receipt. He replies that he forgot his wallet and he'll be right back. Never comes back. Not so easy, is it, fucker?
2:00 PM: I finally punch out and leave. Against my better judgement, I drive two hours back home again to spend more time with the family, since I got the whole weekend off. Drink two more Red Bulls and stupidly drive home.
4:00 PM: Arrive home alive, somehow, and am informed that the rest of the family is coming over in half an hour for dinner and game night. Drink another Red Bull. Proceed to sit at kitchen table in TPS uniform, mostly asleep, for several hours while family makes stupid jokes and plays password.
10:00 PM: Everyone finally leaves, and I go to sleep for the first time in two days. I swear never to work retail security again. Sleep fourteen hours uninterrupted.
Apologies for the long-ass post, but it was truly an experience I feel the need to share. if any new TM's, especially TPS's, see this, have fun. I'm rooting for you.