For people like me, the worst part of the year is almost here…. Black Friday.

I’ve been in retail the last four Black Fridays, and I fancy myself as somewhat of a Black Friday expert.

Most see Black Friday as a great day for shopping. I see it as a day in hell.

It is 14 hours of people constantly asking the same questions, and looking for the same products long after they are sold out.

Instead of enjoying my ham and mashed potatoes, I am tormented by the thought that in a few hours, I have to go to war with hordes of customers sure to come through the electronics retail giant where I work.

Imagine if you will, 14 hours where people are constantly rude, impatient, and don’t seem to understand that stores can run out of a product. It clearly states in the paper… Quantities are limited!

If you come in eight hours after we open and ask me for a “door buster” item, I am not even going to check to see if we have it; the answer will be no. They are called “door busters” for a reason… People bust down the doors to get to them.

Words of advice? First, if you want to get the door busters, get in line with the rest of the crazed customers waiting outside the stores.

Second, don’t yell at the poor employee behind the register. He or she doesn’t control anything but the checkout process. If there is a problem, ask to speak to a manager or even better, just let it go. It’s Black Friday. They’re kind of busy and don’t have time to deal with a nagging customer upset about a five dollar coupon not working on the day they are already getting two hundred dollars off.

Even if you do complain, on that day, most managers are just going to blow it off because they are tired and stressed out about the biggest shopping day of the year.

Now, I don’t know how it is at other stores, but I don’t think saving $200 on a 55″ TV is worth waiting outside of the store for two weeks. My store has customers pitching tents and setting up lawn chairs weeks in advance to wait in line.

Personally, I can’t see missing two weeks of work to sit in cold, wet and windy weather, just to save a little money on a computer or TV. Use the money you would’ve made in those two weeks and buy the product later on like a grown up.

Black Friday runs into Thanksgiving night now known as Grey Thursday. That just gives me the blues.