I know it’s usually video games and Dungeons & Dragons on this site, and we’ll get back to that next week, but right before we head face first into the deluge of holiday hell, I’d like to issue something of a PSA to everyone.  In lieu of GameStop announcing that they’ll be open on Thanksgiving, don’t justify this extended Black Friday bullshit.

For over ten years I toiled away in retail hell, in a mall that was so callous towards its own employees and clientele that was exceedingly entitled.  From towing employee cars that weren’t parked far enough away from the mall, to inviting local police to come and ticket any car with an expired inspection.  It was some real salt-in-the-wound shit that would happen after a long day of getting screamed at by people who thought they were owed something.

I remember when the mall started make more aggressive and less employee friendly choices by making it mandatory that stores open at 10pm on Thanksgiving, fining any store several thousands of dollars for every hour they were closed.  That eventually shifted to opening at normal hours on Thanksgiving, and not closing until 10 or 11pm the following day.

It was hellish.  I know there are worse places to work and that so many people have it worse, but this is something that doesn’t need to happen, and that you as a person can actually make an impact on.  Stay home for the holiday and don’t support this nonsense.  If you’re going to shop, do it on Friday during normal hours of operation.  You’re never getting as good of a deal as you think you are.  It just isn’t fucking worth it.

The amount of time I’ve wasted selling jeans on Thanksgiving wasn’t worth the money I made, or the family gatherings I’d missed.  I gave so much time to a company that didn’t give a shit about me, and was verbally assaulted by indignant assholes who thought they were owed the fucking world because they felt like going shopping at an outdoor mall at 3 am in November.

I still have nightmares around this time of year, about how I’m going to get fired because I’m not going into work, or how someone is yelling at me at 4 am because our sale isn’t good enough.  Working in retail sucks enough as it is, but adding this layer of garbage really makes it a more dehumanizing experience than it needs to be.

They’re people too.  They have families.  And I can assure you, they don’t want to be there.  No matter how bright and bubbly they may seem, they’d rather be anywhere but there.  So stay home and enjoy the fact that you can do that during the holidays.

Oh, and before anyone feels compelled to throw the, “if they don’t like it, they can find another job,” line at me, please do the world a favor and go fuck yourself with the thorniest object you have handy.