AIBU Christmas and retail

[ItsaTenfromDen]

I work in retail, yes this is my choice at the moment, would dearly love another job, but so far this is proving hard to find.

AIBU to be annoyed by someones desire to go shopping on Boxing Day? I will be up at 4.30 and opening at 6am. What can anyone possibly need at 6am on Boxing Day? We don't sell medicine or food!

I appreciate that Doctors and Nurses and other professions have to work, but I see that as a necessary park of their job. People need medical attention every day.

Even if I didn't work in retail I would never think of going shopping on Boxing Day, I've seen enough of the shops in the run up to Christmas.

"Lots of people don't have the luxury of families to visit. It is a very lonely time for them. "

Neither will a lot of retail workers if you have your way Shopper. Their relatives do not have the gift of immortality you know. They wont live forever!

Neither will a lot of retail workers if you have your way Shopper. Their relatives do not have the gift of immortality you know

Fortunately Boxing Day is not the only opportunity they get all year so they will be fine!

Shopper5 - why not volunteer for a worthy charity? You know, stuff cannot fill emotional needs ;)

Fortunately Boxing Day is not the only opportunity they get all year so they will be fine!

I suppose by the same token all those lonely people with no families could wait a day or two before going out to speak to cashiers?

Yeah cos retail workers get Sats and Suns off loads throughout the year..............oh wait.

why not volunteer for a worthy charity? You know, stuff cannot fill emotional needs ;)

Why don't you?

Believe me-staff don't have time to "chat" to lonely customers on Boxing Day. They're too busy restocking shelves, being spoken to like crap by impatient customers, processing huge transactions (a lot of which gets returned days later) and picking up after people too lazy to put things they've decided they don't want back on a shelf (any shelf at all-the amount of stock that just gets left on the floor is astounding.)

Shopping is not a "right", it's a hobby for some yes, but nobody has the "right" to shop. I worked in retail for 12 years and never once saw a lonely shopper out for company-just manic bargain hunters and the occasional person who had forgotten somebody on their list they were seeing that afternoon.

Yeah cos retail workers get Sats and Suns off loads throughout the year..............oh wait

Ever heard of annual leave? Oh wait.....

Shopper 5

"you have to suck it up if you're in retail". How thoughtful of you. We're talking about one extra day a year. Good for those corner shops who run brief hours over Christmas/Boxing Day for us numpties who forget milk and the odd petrol station.

Agree with Helena. Lots of people don't have the luxury of families to visit. It's a very lonely time for them So tens of thousands of retail workers and those working 0-hour contracts in the warehouses can't make it to see their equally lonely relatives? or even their own close families? Retail also seems (apart from some good guys) to be somewhere which doesn't pay overtime for Christmas/Boxing Day and refuses to let employees take time off from mid-Dec to Jan.

You're right it's big business that decides but why do you think MOST people want a shop open on Boxing Day? Clearly some people will shop till they drop but not every day, surely. A day off shopping might make them go for a walk, see their relatives or even some of those lonely people.

I worked in retail for 12 years and never once saw a lonely shopper out for company-just manic bargain hunters and the occasional person who had forgotten somebody on their list they were seeing that afternoon

Loneliness is not always visible

Totally agree with you.
I assume you're talking about Next. 4am Boxing day last year.

If anyone is stupid enough to want to go sales shopping at 4am on Boxing day and feels that waiting to the day after is unacceptable then they should be locked in a room for 24 hours and forced to listen to Gershwin on repeat at top volume while having their feet tickled.

A day off shopping might make them go for a walk, see their relatives or even some of those lonely people

They have the right to shop. Why shouldn't they? People don't always want to see their relatives. Not everybody has families or happy ones

you have to suck it up if you're in retail". How thoughtful of you

Everybody has to suck up part of their jobs they don't like. It's life

Not everybody has families or happy ones

THAT IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF RETAIL WORKERS.

"They have the right to shop".

Do you actually place so much importance on shopping that you see it as a human right? Do you think shops should open on Christmas Day too so as not to violate people's "rights"?

You know what else isn't visible?

An ignore button on MN. But sometimes you can just pretend there is one

Yanbu. The last thing I want to do bin Boxing Day is shop. I really wish stores stayed shut.

Your post has been reported Helena

THAT IS NOT THE RESPONSIBILITY OF RETAIL WORKERS

NEVER SAID IT WAS

The tone of this thread reminds me of neighbourhoods where you weren't allowed to hang washing out on a Sunday!

Anyway I would love to be told what I should be doing at particular times of the year at certain times It looks like a few posters here have devoted so much time to thinking about what others do and judging them that They Have Got It All Figured Out.

Shopper you were being goady to November. Its not one rule for you and another for everybody else on here.