Tis the season to be jolly...

[Becks]

Oddly enough, the best experience I had with last minute Christmas shopping was the morning of Christmas Eve. Went to Kohl's, Target and K Mart. Practically no one there. Shopping was a breeze, and at Kohl's, everything I bought was at least 50% off (and I didn't know it until I got rung up).

The WORST place I went to that morning was the store I work at (I was only one of three people in my whole department who was scheduled off). People were EVERYWHERE. Parking was a mess. Coworkers told me to hide from management/ownership, because if they saw me, they'd put me to work, even without being in uniform. I took the hint and hid out by the smoking area until the future mother-in-law was done.

[Mike Taylor]

Now this is a second hand tale handed down from a coworker, but at a past job, we had a situation where security had to take two customers off the floor and LECTURE THEM about adult behavior because they were fighting over Mighty Morphin Power Rangers action figures (this was back when they first hit the TV).

[friendofjimmyk]

Of course, it's always an evil PLOT between the retailers and the toymakers when said toy does go out of stock before Christmas. Yeah, like I want to piss off customers.

Ahh, yes...I love that plot!

[phoenix_rising]

Man, I don't really have problems at Christmas. Usually, Christmas Eve, my stepdad, little brother, and I all go out to shop for my mum. It's normally not too bad out there.
No, the torture session is ALWAYS the day after Thanksgiving. Wal-Mart would open at 6 in the morning and all the people would rush in. There were traffic jams IN WAL-MART. This was our old Wal-Mart though. This year, there's a 'Super-sized' Wal-Mart. It's not a Supercenter because that adds taxes, but it's a big Wal-Mart.
Anyway, last Thanksgiving, there were laptops being sold for, like, $399 or something. Everyone was there and they were sold out in minutes and there was a huge waiting list. Not sure we ever got called on that one. It was insane.

[ArenaBoy]

Heheheh....back when I lived in the Phoenix area, in a place that actually had MALLS (this town doesn't), I would, when I could, go to one of the busier malls Christmas Eve, wait ten minutes on line in the food court for a soda, kick back on one of the benches, and watch the fun. Or wander aimlessly through the stores watching the carnage. One of the best spectator sports I have every witnessed, to be honest, especially when you are JUST a spectator, not a participant. I recommend it highly.

I am going to give it a shot, I need a few laughs.

[Brighid45]

Twenty-eight years ago I started my first 'official' job as a cashier at a big-name department store. My group of new hires trained in early November and had to deal with Black Friday practically as our first day. I remember a guy giving me absolute loud and nasty hell about a mistake I made putting in the price of an electric blanket. He had me in tears for the rest of the day.

Holidays at the bookstore were more fun. My favorite memory from that time is of coming in really early on Black Friday morning to redo the window displays and get the last of the tables and dumps set up. We brought in hot chocolate and cinnamon rolls for morning break and played lots of great funky holiday music. And yes, some guy came up to the door at 5 a.m. and wanted to shop!

I do my best to make sure all my Yule gifts are finished, wrapped and mailed if necessary by November 1st. The only thing I buy after that is candy or chocolate. No exceptions. I HATE holiday shopping crowds. It's like watching sharks go into a feedling frenzy, except you're right in the middle of it all.