We enjoy holiday shopping to such an extent that it has become more important than the holidays themselves. No matter how crowded the malls get or how much time we sacrifice with our loved ones, we still love shopping, even if it’s during uncommon times like 11 p.m. or 6 a.m.. But the problem is, there is a group of people who are affected by the popularity of holiday shopping: the retail employees.
Retail employees are the ones forced to sacrifice time with family during the holidays to work with many grumpy customers who literally fight between one another to “cop” the last pair of shoes or the last jacket on clearance. Employees are also forced to stay at work into the wee hours of the morning to close the stores and help clean up. Personally, as a retail employee that worked during the holidays before, I was finally able to go on my phone and see all I’ve missed, as well as messages saying, “Wish you could’ve made it to dinner.” Here is when the emotions get involved for a retail employee, and this is one of those personal aspects that not everyone thinks about. Yes, retail employees do have feelings when they know they missed seeing their loved ones on such an important date.
Although, the holidays are a great opportunity for workers to make more money since some companies offer them “time and a half” or higher commission, there are memories that are made on holidays that sadly, many of these employees miss and are irreplaceable and hard to recreate. I think that a great solution for everybody to be happy is to reopen stores a day or two after the holidays, and offer sales then. That way, the employee can both earn money and spend time with their loved ones.
Hopefully, this changes some perspectives about shopping during the holidays. Please be respectful to any associate that is helping you, because they might be losing more than what they are earning.
