pulling out my hair for the holiday season
retail is hard. don't get me wrong, every job has its own set of problems but RETAIL is worse. and yes this is my opinion but it's also a fact according to me. as someone who's worked retail as soon as they were able to, working the past 4 YEARS (oh my gosh) at various companies really teaches you a thing or two about not only how businesses work, but also how toxic work environments mixed with high expectations mixed with low wages really makes for a disaster of a time. of course this is my personal experience and not every person who has worked retail is gonna agree. today we are specifically talking about the time a retail employee loathes the most, holiday season. just typing it out gives me the chills... the horror..
just to start off, i'm forever grateful for the jobs i've been hired for, and it helped me grow as a person. i've met some amazing people through my jobs. yada yada yada. anyways. people act crazy during the holidays. it's literally true. like.. someone did an experiment. that experiment found that consumer behavior becomes irrational during the holidays, and psychological influences cause consumers to buy more for different reasons. in the research, they listed reasons such as societal expectations, traditions, economic status, and a sense of satisfaction. (Waturandang 2019). and we all feel this in a sense. making the holidays feel special is something we all strive for no matter how much money we have. but WHYYYY are people so UNBEARABLE during the holiday season?! i swear i've been asked "do you work here?" more than i can count. and while i do understand the economic state of many americans during this (basically) recession, can we PLEASE stop trying to negotiate prices like this is an auction. no there are no additional discounts, no we can not take 20% off because you bought multiple things, AND NO you CAN NOT use MY discount?! i swear its like the general public just loses their common sense the minute they step into a store.
let's look at the other side though, people who work in retail are not only workers but consumers as well. and as a consumer you always want to get the best deal. trust i am QUICK to ask if a place gives student discounts. but harassing workers for a discount that will literally just cover the sales tax (thanks, TN) is not right and makes their job even harder. and yes i could go on for hours about capitalism and how these companies don't actually care about you, and how unless you are absolutely loaded nothing really is in your favor, and blah blah blah. BESIDES all that.. a big problem is people just shopping outside their means. like if you know buying this $125 purse is going to put you in the negative or put you out in ANY way the right thing would be just to NOT buy the purse..now i'm not really one to talk but hey i've changed. anyways financial literacy is VERY important.
all in all, i hope if you're a regular customer somewhere or next holiday season, you remember me rambling about the customers that come into my job, and you say "wow i don't want to be like that" because i'm hoping it'll catch on..
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