Welcome To Our Team: Fill & Download for Free

Two years ago, I was the store manager of a Victoria's Secret store in North Dakota. It was early morning on the Friday after Thanksgiving. There had been a lot of debate leading up to this moment among the various leaders in my district (the other SMs and our DM) about what time each of our VS stores in the ND/MN area should open, as the mall itself was opening at 7am, but various early starter stores were planning on opening far, far earlier.That year, the Gap in our mall made the independent decision to open at 4am, and the Bath & Body Works decided to match them - in hindsight, I guess that meant that I should have made the call to open then as well, but since the mall itself (and many of our larger anchor stores) wasn't opening until 7am officially, we had decided to open then as well. Additionally, my nearest VS neighbor, an hour away, was also opening at 7am. We wanted to respect our associates' time as much as possible, and coming in at 6am wasn't unheard of (we also do that for Semi-Annual Sale start days), so it seemed like a good compromise to be able to honor as many requests for time off or specific shifts as possible.We were a smaller staff (total of about thirty five to forty associates, including management team), and Black Friday always tested us to our limits, and we augmented with various Friends & Family hired for the day or weekend to help us with filler tasks like restocking and recovery. In order to maximize the sales team during the hours we were open, I went in to open that morning with just two other associates (having scheduled all the others we'd be needing to arrive at fifteen minutes to open, so their shifts could cover more of the actual Sales day).We had set up the store to be ready for action on Wednesday evening, and so, the other two young ladies and I were going in at 6am to get the computers up and running and do any final last minute store setup activities. I left early that morning and stopped at McDonald's to get some sandwiches and juice for my early morning team, because I wanted them to be sure to have eaten (and in my experience, they often ignored breakfast in favor of fifteen more minutes of sleep) before the day began. I arrived at the mall at a quarter to six (I am someone who MUST always be early, no matter what) and approached the store (we never entered the store alone, so I was planning on just waiting by our front gate for the other associates). When I rounded the corner from the mall entrance to our wing, I immediately saw something that brought fear into my heart.A large crowd was camped all around the two entrances to our store - young girls, older women, sighing men, etc. None of them looked pleased. All of them were grumbling with their newfound BFFs-in-misery-and-righteous-Black-Friday-Indignation. I halted two stores away, ducked back around the corner, and sat lying in wait for my two other associates. Once they arrived, I quickly apprised them of the situation, explained to them that they were to ignore any heckling we got, and simply get IN the store as fast as possible once I'd opened our gate enough to slip under.So, as we moved closer, we were immediately identifiable in our dressy black outfits with pink shirts, perfectly done makeup, and of course, our pink measuring tapes. The minute the crowd spotted us, the heckling began. They started demanding why we weren't open (despite having had our phone recording giving our hours for this day for weeks prior, having had signs up everywhere in the store and in the mall directory, AND having answered the question countless times in person). They started telling us exactly what they thought of us (not much, apparently). They started demanding free things for their wait (??). A few tried to slide under the gate with us, and I ended up needing to call mall security to help us get in. I handled the situation as I always did, with empathy, apologizing for the fact that they'd been waiting (I thought it was a given that if you do crazy black friday shopping, some of your time will be spent waiting for posted opening times, but still), promising that we'd have the gates open as soon as we had had time to get the systems up and running, thanking them for their patience (HAHHHH) and enthusiasm (passionate rage). Thankfully, my two associates listened to me and did not engage, they just kept their calm and ducked in as soon as we were able to do so unmolested.Once in and with the gate down and relocked (we had literally only opened it enough to get down and crawl under, so we could close it faster and hopefully avoid more people trying to come in with us), we moved to the rear of the store. They got all the lights and music on and playing, and then helped me verify and count the tills and get the systems started up. As we waited for the computers to come online, we were all literally shaking. At the gates (three rooms forward), the crowd was screaming and yelling at us to 'get off our asses' and open the damned gates, etc. They were hitting the electronic gates so hard I was afraid they'd break them and we literally would be unable to open them. It was 6:33am, and we had another twelve minutes until the first wave of our backup associates would arrive (and by policy, we had to let them in by the front gate, not the back door).It was one of those moments you hope you NEVER have as a retail manager. You have allllll the hindsight in the world, now, but you're still not even engaged in the real battle yet. All you can think about is how you are probably going to fight the hardest fight today and still lose. I spent the next five minutes on the phone calling every associate we had to pile on more shifts earlier, to extend shifts, and most of all, to advise the team to keep their calm and remember that THEY had done nothing wrong.And at that point, I looked at my other two associates, one who was my current bra specialist and the other who was our former bra specialist, both seasoned employees. I knew they knew what I was thinking, and without even saying it, they offered to help. We decided to open earlier than our posted time of 7:00am and just brave it for ten minutes until the other associates began arriving. One bravely took to the tills, the other manned her station outside the fitting room, and I slipped off my heels, put on flats, and prepared to open the gates and circle through the six rooms of our store as best as possible while we waited for reinforcements. As I opened the gate with a smile and a thanks for waiting, welcoming them into our store, they shoved around me, pouring in, spewing curses, exclamations (It's about damned time, you incompetent bitches!), and literally just grabbing things off our shelves (VS's traditional Black Friday deals are lowered prices on certain key best selling Beauty products and a "free" tote with a $75 purchase, most just grabbed $75 worth of products and headed to the checkout). It took me five minutes just to get through the crowd into the next room to open the other gate.Through it all, my girls were tough and they were calm. I was so proud of them. They remained positive and cheerful, apologizing for any inconveniences (despite the fact that we had, in fact, opened BEFORE we'd said we would simply because of the crowd), and worked through it. As our backup associates started pouring in, I was able to get them all in position where we'd planned for them originally to be AS I opened the gates, and things slowly became more controlled chaos.Still, it was one of the most terrifying things - I didn't think we'd come under too much physical harm or danger, there in North Dakota in a fairly small community, but you just never know. More than myself, I was worried about the safety of my team - both emotionally and physically. The majority of my team was young women 18-22 or so (college town), and they were not used to the kind of crush that comes with Black Friday. Our store got a little busy on weekends, but the main days of the week, we spent them in a very quiet environment without more than two or three of us working at any given time thanks to lower volume. The mean spirits, the rage and crabbiness, and the overall aggressive nature of Black Friday mobs, even those mobbing for bras and panties!, was scary. To be honest, it kind of ruined Black Friday for me, which is sad, because I used to enjoy going shopping and bargain hunting with my mom and sisters on this day. It used to be a day of a sort of fun free-for-all of Christmas shopping and retail therapy of the highest order.Now, all I see is the panicked expressions on the employees' faces, even those who have weathered these storms for thirty years. I see the tiredness in their eyes. I know what it's like to slowly watch your Thanksgiving holiday erode year after year (now opening at 6pm on Thanksgiving day? What the heck!). I know what it's like to show up there because it's your job and because you genuinely are there to help provide a service to people, and then to receive all sorts of verbal abuse all day. To hear how you're the lowest form of human being because the free tote has run out (while supplies last, you know). To hear how you personally have ruined their holiday because that red rhinestoned bra is no longer available in their size, or how the matching panty is there in all sizes but theirs! I have a hard time enjoying shopping now when I see customers behaving poorly towards the associates there who are just doing their jobs and trying to earn a living. I don't care if you think they 'deserve' to be there because they don't have a top education, because they didn't 'work hard enough to succeed,' or whatever other lame reason you think people 'deserve' your abuse. It's never really okay. All those people are someone's sister/mother/aunt/daughter/son/father/grandfather/uncle/brother/etc.And all this to say, this isn't even the worst of it. Thank God I never had to experience the literally killing crushes that other stores have had to deal with. The physical fights that break out over the last item. Etc.Ugh. What an ugly occurrence Black Friday has become.

What's the motive of the RW's behind following the Indian Liberal space?This is neither something new, nor rare.There may be a few persons with a right wing inclinations, but still interested to know the other shades of opinions as well. I know quite many writers of this type, who contribute excellent content on many subjects, and also extremely courteous and cordial in their interactions with me despite knowing our divergent political or economic views. We are mutual followers on this website. So I think there may be some persons in this type, who might follow this space out of genuine curiosity or to know the views of others with whom they may not be in agreement. In fact, technically or ethically there can not be any bar for anyone to follow any space on this website, and possibly some of them might have even been invited to follow by some of their liberal friends who are already in this space. In my opinion, these are welcome to follow, and even contribute or comment in a healthy spirit of exchange of views.It is the other type, which comprises of members of IT cells or rabid and fanatical acolytes of certain political parties, and also habitual Trolls,whose motive is more likely to unethical and malicious. These people might start following this space for prying on the contents of other people in this space purely for the purpose of mass down voting, Reporting, and trolling. This segment is the real dangerous one, which has to be dealt with in a very strict and summary manner. The contributors and others in this space must guard against such culture vultures on the prowl.In fact I know many people of this type who are following me on this website, as some players in a soccer team ‘marking’ a player of the opposite team to restrict or restrain his moves. I generally manage to identify them quite early, and deal with their subtle attempts at ‘sea lioning’ or downright obnoxious comments by deleting them and also ‘mute and block’ such Users with immediate effect,to eliminate or minimize their mischief potential and nuisance value. I would recommend this ploy to deal with such disruptive forces, apart from Reporting any toxic or abusive comments.Social media is like a jungle, and eternal vigilance is the key to survival!

So let's compare the Indian cricket team and the Avengers!!!Captain Cool(MSD): Captain AmericaHe is wise and calm like captain America. He has become old but shows no signs af aging. He always comes up with a plan during critical situations. A born leader and a veteran. Generally remains clean shaved but the beard look also suits him. His strength and running abilities are like Steve Rogers.Virat Kohli: IronmanFans' favorite! Has an indomitable spirit, team comes first for him. Everyone depends on him when it counts the most. A self described genius and a leader.And she is our Pepper PottsRohit Sharma: ThorHe can destroy his opponents with his batting. Can hit thunderous sixes. On his day no one can stop him. He is affectionately called HITMAN. When he raises his bat bowler fears and crowd cheers. He is the captain of Mumbai Indians like Thor is the king of Asgard.Hardik Pandya: HulkHas got terrible strength, can hit sixes for fun. Can single handedly win matches and is aggressive in nature.Hardik smash!!!Shikhar Dhawan: FalconCan give his team a flying start. Always dependable on big stages. Likes to trim his hair short. When he dives and takes catches it looks like he has wings.Jasprit Bumrah: Dr . StrangeHe has a strange bowling action. He is a magician with the ball. Can cast spells with his fingers, batsmen are unable to read him due to his unpredictability.Ravindra Jadeja: Winter SoldierHas got a metal left arm. He can bat, bowl and field with his left hand. Everything for him is baye hath ka khel. He is also cap's good friend.Dinesh Karthik: Black PantherHe has recently shown what he is capable of. He is the captain of KKR like T'challa is the King of Wakanda. Has got safe hands.Kedar Jadhav: AntmanMaybe he is small in size but can demolish his opponents with his all round performance. X-factor in the team.Bhuvneshwar Kumar: HawkeyeMade a great comeback like Clint Barton. Always aims for the stumps. Pretty handy with the bat too. A great asset for the team.K L Rahul: War MachineHe has a lot of potential, he is a good mate of our Ironman. He is always ready to help his team.Rishabh Pant: SpidermanYoung avenger and a new entry. One day he wants to become like his mentor. He also banters a lot. He is the future of the team just like Peter Parker.And finally we have our strategist…..Ravi Shastri: Nick FuryThis was a small effort from a hardcore Indian cricket and Marvel fan. Suggestions are most welcome.World cup is coming so…….AVENGERS ASSEMBLE3 cheers for India!!!3 cheers for Marvel!!!We'll miss u IronmanCome on India bring the world cup homeEdit:- Thank you everybody for such an amazing response. Thanks to all the upvoters and sharers. Special thanks to the Quorans who commented below and shared their views.Many of you wanted to see Natasha and Wanda. So I decided to compare them with our superwomen.Mithali Raj: Natasha RomanoffShe is a veteran. Has many records to her name. Always ready to sacrifice for the team. Has a strong personality and can lead her team well.Harmanpreet Kaur: Scarlet WitchKnown for her attacks. Can single handedly hit boundaries and win matches for her team like Wanda hit the the crap out of Thanos alone.Last but the not the least……Smriti Mandhana: Captain MarvelShe looks really cute. There is an elegance in her style of play. Always shuts up critics by her performance. A great combo of beauty with brains.And these are the infinity stones.Our Avengers will fight to win them……THANK YOU!!!!