It’s that wonderful time of year when shopping malls are open until midnight. If you work at a mall-based sneaker store, that usually means you’re working well past dark to get the store ready for the next day.

Aside from closing later during the holidays, most malls usually also open up at the crack of dawn too. (Gotta cash in on that holiday money) That means you’ll most likely have to work some shifts that require you to be in before the geriatric mall-walkers start their workout.

For the uninitiated, getting hands on the hottest releases in December is a savage game. When you work at a sneaker store, you have the cold-blooded job of breaking the news to these people that what they were hoping to acquire for their special someone is no longer in stock.

Try listening to “Do They Know It’s Christmas Time” by Band Aid every hour, on the hour. That’s what’s playing in your store, in the food court, and on the radio. It’s enough to drive a person to insanity.

Thinking about hitting that last holiday bash at your buddy’s dorm before heading out on winter break? No can do. You’ve got to sell some sneakers tonight… and tomorrow morning.

And lots of them. The floodgates open around this time of year when shoppers aren’t only hoping to get shopping done, but also their kids’ photos taken with Santa. This makes trying to find a parking spot, when you’re already late for your shift, a bit of a hassle.

The sneaker shop is probably one of several stops a frazzled person will have to make during the season. Trying to furiously cross items off the Christmas list can get a little tense, and that stress is usually reflected in the demeanor of most of your customers this time of year.

Times are tough, and there’s nothing wrong with trying to pinch a few pennies during the holidays. However, causing a scene at your cash register over an expired $10 off coupon is not worth the trouble.

The ironic thing about working in retail during the holidays is that most of the time, you’ll be confined to your store. This doesn’t leave a lot of time to step out and knock those items off your Christmas list, unless you plan on getting everybody sneakers this year.

When you’re closing up, there’s always that straggler that makes his or her way into the store just in the nick of time. More often than not, it’s someone who has no idea what they want to buy and have no sense of how much the store’s employees want to get out of there. Multiply this by 100 during the holidays, when the store already closes at an ungodly hour.

Sourced from uk.complex.com