The 12 joys of working in retail at christmas

Katie Hall on 11 December 2017
Grumpy cat saying "dasing through the no"

What’s that you can hear in the distance? Sleigh bells ringing and carol singing? You wish. It’s the crying, shouting and repetitive Christmas songs that signify the start of the festive frenzy in shops around the country.

For students, it's often necessary to earn money over the holidays with some Christmas temping. And many students pick up a job in retail to do just that. So why not join us as we grumble our way through the 12 most annoying things about working in a shop during the festive period?

Crazy shifts

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When the dreaded Christmas rota is drawn up, all you can do is watch and cry as nearly all of your break vanishes into thin air.

Tonnes of new Christmas promotions

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...that you're definitely not going to remember. You're only human!

Christmas music

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Remember how it was kind of fun when your boss first put on the Christmas CD? Well now you would rather gouge your eyes out with a spoon than listen to that same weird, jazzy cover of Last Christmas again.

Mess

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Has there been a stampede of wild animals throughout the store? Well, that's not too much of an exaggeration when you think about the harassed Christmas shoppers that have been charging around the place for the last few weeks.

Crying children

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Because the one thing everyone needs in a chaotic, hot and downright unpleasant shop is a misbehaving, screaming child. Better still is more than one misbehaving, screaming child. Said no one ever.

Christmas Eve panic

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People really do lose their heads. And you're just watching it all with a slightly horrified kind of bemusement from behind the tills.

Customers asking for advice

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You're really not sure how that customer expects you to recommend the perfect gift for her 15-year-old grandson based on the unnecessary yet somehow still very vague information she's provided about him...

That overly Christmassy colleague

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Running around reminding you all to be happy because it's Christmas. You'll be happy once you've managed to escape this chaotic frenzy of panic, frustration and greedy capitalist nonsense.

Stupid lunch breaks

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*Manager planning everyone's breaks on Christmas Eve* "Lunch at 10:30? Close enough."

Worst customers in the world

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Why oh why is there always one person slowly wandering around the deserted shop at 5:30 on Christmas Eve? Everyone wants to go home, why aren’t they at home?!

Working boxing day

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Why? Just why? There's seriously nothing worse than waking up early on Boxing Day morning knowing you have work.

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Katie Hall
Katie Hall on 11 December 2017