we're having a superbowl party this weekend. i almost chickened out because our tv is only a 32" inch. who wants to watch the superbowl on a small tv like that? the Husband and i went back and forth about which we needed more: a new sectional sofa for our family room or a tv. but not both. we can't afford both. we were so indecisive about it that here we are, on the eve of superbowl with the same tv and the same family room furniture we had. it's a good thing our friends really like us.
yesterday the Husband actually had the nerve to ask if i wanted to go buy one of those huge TVs at costco and then return it after the game. he was kind of, sort of "kidding", and i brushed him off good. but i know that if i had indulged him we'd have a 62 inch, hdtv right now. i wouldn't want to be the idiot going to return it. i just couldn't do something that ghetto. that's the kind of stuff that perpetuates the stereotypes. but of course, my husband could do it (but wouldn't)which made me think about his whiteness and my blackness. he could do ghetto things like that and the salespeople wouldn't think twice because he's just a good looking, tall, friendly WHITE guy. or, if they did think twice, it wouldn't be because he's white.
the Husband and i kind of have this deal about returning things. i don't like to return high priced items because the whole racial drama and stereotyping that comes with being a black girl. so the husband will return things for me (no dishonesty). i would just rather keep the chance of racial drama and suspicion to a minimum if possible. i've been there and done that enough to know how it is. especially if i have my 2 boys with me. you know, the stereo type--single black mom with multiple kids trying to get something for nothing. maybe that's just my perception. but the Husband has no shame and doesn't worry about being stereotyped so he's happy to return things for me when necessary. last summer i bought a laptop and something wasn't quite right. the salesman had rubbed me the wrong way i had flipped a little attitude so there was no way in hell i was returning that thing. but The Husband was in and out in a matter of minutes. even IF they wouldn't have been suspicious of me and given me any grief, i would just rather not take the chance of it happening and me getting all riled up.
3 comments:
Wow. I'd never thought of returns like that. I've only learned the joy of the return in the last couple of years and routinely find myself buying things knowing I'll just return them in a few days after I get the use I need. I've even thought of getting the big screen and returning it too, only I'm not that bold. I've never thought that the color of my skin gives me that sort of freedom, but you're absolutely right. I do catch myself looking askance at black men and women standing with me in the return line.
Wow. I'd like to think I'm not a terrible human being, but every now and then...
Yeah, buying and returning a TV for the superbowl is not cool.
A friend of mine (white) told the story of returning a hammer for a black guy who didn't have the receipt at Fred Meyer. The guy's story was that the manager was giving him a hard time about not having the receipt because he was black. Anyway my friend returned it with no problem and gave the cash to the guy. I wonder though if the black guy was ALWAYS returning stuff (or returning stolen stuff) and that was the reason he was hassled about the receipt, rather than being black.
I'm feeling a lot of racism in this blog..
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