Make sure that you are nice to retail workers on Christmas Eve. You should be nice to retail workers all of the time, but go out of your way to be extra nice this December 24^th. Think about how busy of a day Christmas Eve is for you. Would you really want to behind a register with tons of screaming and whining customers?

A lot of times retail workers take the brunt of people’s anger for other things. If company policy won’t let a customer make a return, the big players of the company making $250,000 a year or more never have to suffer the customer’s anger---but the retail workers often making low wages do.

I made the mistake of working in a toy store on Christmas Eve one year. Saying it now it sounds like a mistake from the beginning, but at the time it seemed like an okay idea. I was in college and had worked at the toy store the previous summer. I really got along with the manager and assistant manager well, so I figured why not put in some hours there over winter break to make some extra spending money for my spring semester. I was already trained so there would be no learning curve.

Working in a store on Christmas Eve is ten times more chaotic than working any other day in a shop. I have NO CLUE why so many people wait to do heavy shopping until Christmas Eve, but they do indeed. The manager was caught up with all sorts of customer questions and complaints. Most of the other help was seasonal and I was the only responsible one. At one point I was the only one on the register. There were about sixteen people groaning in line while I attempted to keep my cool. The other girl who was supposed to be working the register with me was outside the store fighting with her ex-boyfriend who was the father of her child. One woman on the line even told me she felt bad for me because I was the only one doing anything. Most of the other customers were just grumpy and rude.

The mall closed at 6:30 and there were still 10 people in line. We put down the gate most of the way and a crazy man started banging on it and threatening us if we didn’t let him come in and get a toy for his niece. Once security got rid of the psycho and the other 10 customers were gone, it looked like a BOMB went off in the store. We had over an hour left of cleaning to do before we could go home to our own families.

Ever since, I try to avoid shopping on Christmas Eve all together. I figure I am one less person in the mall to hassle the retail workers. If you must shop on Christmas Eve, remember to be pleasant no matter how hot it is or how long the line is. As soon as you pay, you can go home to your family and goodies. The person who just rang you up has to spend a few more hours dealing with mean people.