Congrats on surviving it. I've not done retail in 20 years (my parents used to own a carpet store), but I don't remember it fondly.

I used to work as an elevator girl in the department store that held the huge Christmas Pageant every year.

Christmas still brings on feelings of claustrophobia.

I hope the stress just melts away from you....

Whatever to your sad story. What did you get ME FOR CHRISTMAS, HUNH? Hunh? HAH! NOTHING! THAT'S WHAT!

I got JACK SQUAT! Oh God....

Yes, I'll go quietly.

Here's to a well-earned break! Pips is off from school for a while, too, yes?

Enjoy, you two!

It already has (and believe it or not, I actually like this job better than my last cubefarm job). Also, the album I linked is nothing like you'd expect. It's more bluesy roots-rock than either doo-wop or punk (although they do close with the Dictators/Del-Lords 'Stay With Me' and Dion's latterday gem 'King Of The New York Streets.')

You managed to get out of the torture Monday? Congrats! Retail on Christmas eve is often a special kind of hell since everyone seems to be in "panic and take it out on the staff" mode

kellydamnit - you'd have to be some sort of masochist to show up on Monday. I'd sooner take a beating than shop on Monday.

kellydamnit: I work with the buyers of used books, so there's not a whole lot of that on Xmas Eve. Even today, we converted the buying desk into an extra register for half the day. I still had to turn away some sellers. I've also been turning away tons of college kids since it's the end of the semester and we don't buy textbooks.

jonmc, You have a very, very, very GOOD supervisor!

Ha, retail hell. I was forutnate enough to work retail in a fabric shop. It's totally "silent night" there on xmas eve. It's the place to be. Of course, we didn't have all the crafty things that the big chains have, nor did we have the 50% off sales...

chuckdarwin, same here... and it's because of the folks who are out shopping!
(my roommate is still in need of tons of gifts, he's going tomorrow. I will not be joining him, two holiday panic attacks are enough for one year for this gal.

I work with the buyers of used books, so there's not a whole lot of that on Xmas Eve.

Around here the used shops get as busy as the new, but our used shops tend to be a lot more mainstream in their stock than yours, from what you've said in the past. So if you want semi-recent Tom Clancy or whatever for someone you can actually find it used most of the time. (I think the antique book shops are dead, though).

Oh, and mightshould, I'd be one of the people you hated, then. Last year I had made a skirt for my sister and realized I forgot to get a zipper. Ran to the store. "WHY DO YOU HAVE NO NAVY ZIPPERS? OH GOD OH NO WHAT AM I GOING TO DO? SOB SOB" (sis got a nice Nike top this year for golf. Not going through that again!)

Oh, kellydamnit. We would have loved to have someone come in the store. It was so desolate. And, you know, black would have worked just fine for that zipper....I've done the all-nighter for xmas eve before...learned my lesson too....

jonmc, You have a very, very, very GOOD supervisor!

Heh. He's a pit bull with the customers and sellers, but he's generous with the booze. He bought my 20-year-old co-worker a liter of Stoli Gold.

our used shops tend to be a lot more mainstream in their stock than yours, from what you've said in the past. So if you want semi-recent Tom Clancy or whatever for someone you can actually find it used most of the time.

We carry all the mainstream stuff, too. It's just that the usual torrent of folks selling us books has abated somewhat. Now it's just people coming into buy, which is the rest of the staff's problem.

but he's generous with the booze.

I did the "buying everything on Xmas eve" once. Never again.

I just mixed creme de menthe with egg nog to make an alcoholic shamrock shake.

My friend that worked in retail imported clothing used to refer to herself as a "retail slut" during the Christmas season.

My friend that worked in retail imported clothing used to refer to herself as a "retail slut" during the Christmas season.

I've done retail Xmas in two of the biggest malls in Canada--once in a game store and once in a record store. *shudders* I still get the screaming heebie-jeebies when I set foot in a mall. Congratulations on surviving it, jonmc.

Yesterday morning Mrs. Doohickie and I picked up our son from church (they had an overnight lock-in), brought him home and then *started* our Christmas shopping. To our shock and amazement, no one gets up early on Saturday in Fort Worth. I mean really- all the parking lots were half empty and the lines short. We mostly finished by noon, had a nice lunch together, made one more stop and we were home by 2:00 pm. No fuss, no muss. I still can't believe it.

By the time we started home, traffic was picking up but we missed most of it.

My retail hell starts tomorrow. Part of it began today, the rest tomorrow. It's the supermarket kind of hell, especially in the meat department. Ah, well, such is the season, right? Ya gotta laugh, otherwise you'll be shivering in a corner, sobbing while they pester you for turkeys that don't exist (because if we had 'em, they'd be on the sales floor); whine that they don't know what kind of roast they had last year, but they want another one just like it; tell you that their mom told them to get a roast beef, but please make sure the beef is red.

save me.