Every year, at the same time and around the same day, a phenomenon happens; over preparation for the Holidays. We all know it and dread it. While our grandparents love it they get to finally put up their trees, and their menorahs and deck the halls with garland.

All of the stores prepare for the worst and busiest time of the year, the aftermath of Thanksgiving. After Thanksgiving, decorating for the Holidays kicks into high gear as Black Friday, Super Sunday, and Cyber Monday hit, leaving retail workers in complete panic and disarray.

I work at Michael’s, a large craft store, it was intense after Thanksgiving and is still very intense. Customers have been taking advantage of our seasonal deals and have been buying carts worth of crafts and Holiday decor.

The moment I walked into my shift on Black Friday I could see the line going from registers back to framing. It took five cashiers an hour or so to get through this line, it was a non-stop stream of customers with one or two full carts each. I had never felt such anxiety at work.

The holidays leave retail workers such as myself and many others in a completely anxiety-induced state. I understand that people want to shop till they drop but consumers need to start taking into consideration how rough Black Friday is and how partaking in consumerism affects the World.

Consumerism is defined as buying items that you don’t need just for the sake of buying, and America is one of the worst when it comes to consumerism. American consumerism needs to have changes made to it, the first one should be getting rid of Black Friday and other seasonal sale days. This would not only help lower the panic and anxiety in retail workers but also reduce the usage of resources.

Over-decorating and over-buying for the holidays need to stop, all it does is encourage industries to continue to overproduce while also pressuring retail workers to get through long lines as quickly as possible leaving them in a panicked state.