(November 21, 2006) — I t’s the Friday after Thanksgiving—a grim day for shoppers and retail workers alike, but an extremely profi table day for business owners. The malls are packed and retail employees are working until they drop. Welcome to Black Friday. Every year, people are tempted out of their cozy post-Thanksgiving stupor by promises of incredible sales. This craze for shopping is not limited to adults, though—teens can be found lurking among the aisles as well. Freshman Ani Oganesian is one such shopper. Drawn to the sweet idea of inexpensive brand-name jeans, Oganesian decided to brave the Glendale Galleria last year. “I went to Abercrombie and Fitch after Thanksgiving and I found that the line was almost out the door,” Oganesian said. The long lines often make employees confused and disgruntled, causing short fuses and mistakes at the register. Some students, such as junior Ani Karapetyan, believe that the frazzled staff is indeed the real problem. “This cashier flipped out at me once and began yelling at me for no reason at all,” she said. “All I wanted to do was take advantage of the sale.” Along with long lines, another trial for shoppers is parking. “You can’t claim that you drive until you’ve driven during Black Friday,” said English teacher Mary Mardirosian. “Finding parking and exiting are the hardest possible things you can do.” The cause of this extra stress is the nonstop pace that the employees have to keep. “We’re very busy and our breaks are not like on regular days,” said senior Amir Tabrizi, who works at Banana Republic. “You’re constantly helping people—at the end of the day you’re exhausted.” Another cause for retail workers’ fatigue could be that their workload doubles weeks before the event. “At Circuit City we’ve been stacking [DVDs, video games and CDs] into huge towers,” said senior Tim Quizon. He said that this particular task lost its appeal, putting him in a constant state of bodily pain and boredom. With all the stress and crazed shoppers, can you really blame retail workers for their short tempers and tired smiles? Whether you indulge in the rush or not, Black Friday is a shopping tradition that’s here to stay.