Dancing to retailers’ tunes is total madness | Emma Kay

The suffering is doubled if you work in retail.

Recreational shopping becomes a battleground with staff toiling unforgivable hours to fall in line with corporate pandering to meet a standard.

It goes without saying that we have all, at one point, bought something we do not need and fallen victim to impulse convenience.

Retailers rely on this feeling that bubbles within us to create the urge to spend as Black Friday is one of the largest shopping events of the year and a perfect excuse for frivolity over function, with people crawling through crowds on their hands and knees to snatch up that special deal like a greedy bird pecking at seed. Televisions, headsets, kitchenware, beds: anything is up for grabs.

With the job losses and lack of funds some people may see Black Friday as their only way to secure an affordable purchase to make sure Christmas hits the mark. The ever increasing pressure from festive fervour drives many into frenzy. Black Friday is an amalgamation of desperation and haste.

The strangeness of 2020 will transform Black Friday into something a little different this year. We can expect to see a sizeable chunk of products moved to online orders for some ‘do or die’ products. Shopping on the high street may be subdued but the competitive retail clutch is still very present. Many retailers will be snapping up the opportunity to sell products to make up for Covid losses. We are likely to see some hefty discounts this year.

Amidst all the excitement we do however, see some questionable decisions. Retailer Gamestop has decided to hold a TikTok dance contest for its employees. This all sounds like fun and games, but, one of the prizes is the ‘privilege’ of allowing employees to work extra hours on Black Friday.

The offering of ‘labour hours’ as a prize is exceedingly excessive and exceedingly twisted. The company is essentially demanding good hard working people to dance to the retailer’s tune to have the chance to get more paid work to top up their already underpaid and inflated hours. A prize to obtain extra labour is not a good look and winning the chance to pour in your extra labour into one of the busiest times of the year is horrific and is beyond the realms of sanity.

Christmas present-giving could be stressful this year

Innovation and improvisation will be the forefront of gift giving this year. Travelling to deliver will not be encouraged and sending a hefty package in the mail could be hellish in more ways than one. But what's to be done?

Ordering online may be safe on your wallet and your mind-set, but for those of us who are not au fait with technology will feel tremendous stress.

We no longer have the freedom to hit the high street. But we do have the freedom to be mindful towards others who do not have technology at their fingertips. Make suggestions for something simple from a semi-secure shop this year. Suggest something which won’t cause undue stress to your relatives.

What’s wrong with having a haphazard Covid haircut?

Handfuls of hair can create a hectic situation. A creeping vine-like fringe obscuring your eyes has to be taken care of.

The absence of hairdressers was a long-suffering side-effect of our first lockdown.

Now it seems people are snipping and clipping to get ahead. People have thrown away their pride and are taking scissors and razors to rid themselves of the extra curls. Pride and perfection has gone out of the window.

Haphazard haircuts are seen as socially acceptable as they are a clear indication that the rules are being followed to the letter. All things considered, being snippy about the state of your hair seems rather silly.