so i'm at the store. a really upscale store in Portland. one of the checkers, who is also black gave me a REALLY hard time when i checked out. i'm talking attitude and all. to make a long story short, he didn't believe that the correct price tag was on my order from the deli.
i said, "no seriously. it's right. i always buy this, and they always mark it this way'. his reply was (abruptly), "and i work here every day". i was pissed. i would have been super pissed had he been white. but yeah, i think maybe i was even more pissed because he was black. i mean come on, dude. i'm black, you're black, what's the big deal. and it wasn't even the black/black thing that got to me(the black/black thing just added insult to injury). it was mostly that it was such a SMALL deal, and people were starting to line up behind me. not to mention that the customer is always right. who freaking cares? i must admit, i would EXPECT that from someone white. i just would. but not so much from someone black.
when he saw the other customers line up behind me, he sighed and said 'fine', that he would honor the price i had told him. i mean, he acted like it was his paycheck on the line or something.
but me, being the sometimes vindictive and passive aggressive person i can be, decided that i was going back over to the deli and straighten it out. it turned out that I WAS RIGHT. he saw me speaking to the deli person and then as i walked past his register i grinned and said, "i was right".
i swore that the day i was calling the store manager and complaining.
my friend said to me that maybe he was having a bad day and not to call, sort of insinuating that well, you know...he's black, i'm black...just leave him be. not so! he didn't seem to care about us being paisanos, why should i?
what would you have done?
11 comments:
Seems to me like no matter what race we are we tend to expect a person of another race to give us attitude because of our race. It may suck but it's reality. All people exhibit racial preferance toward their own race. Oh how I wish it wasn't so, but it really seems like segragation is what people want. Black people don't like white people, white people don't like black people, and the sad thing about it is that no matter how unfair it is to judge or discriminate against anyone, every person who stereo types another person believes they have good reason to. Some white people do things that give white folks in general a bad rap to some black folks and some back folks do things that give black folks in general a bad rap to some white folks. In Gods world we're all loved equally!
He may have been having a bad day, but we all have bad days and it isn't ok to treat people like criminals for giving a store your business.
Say something to the manager. I have had similar experiences, and I speak up. You will have the peace of mind of knowing that the next time you go there, he will keep his mouth shut.
Besides, what if it was your store? Wouldn't you want to know that he's treating loyal customers that way?
Maybe he was or maybe he wasn't having a bad day, maybe he was in trouble earlier for letting someone else get away with the wrong price, or maybe hes actually ok but has to do the white thing when hes at work and kinda pretend hes one of them for the 8 hour shift hes doing/suffering. I wouldnt actually bother calling now as i think it would have been good had you spoke to the manager or some top store assistant about this all the while giving him the eye, the real black eye...you know the one that says hey black your black whats going on..
OH no ...speak to the manager. I dont care what kind of day he is having, that is not your concern, he needs to realize that it's a job (HIS JOB) that is on the line, if he felt that something was wrong he should have called a manager to handle it. remember: ALL SKIN FOLKS ARE NOT KIN FOLKS...I think that's how the saying goes.
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his bad day should not be your bad day period! Black people in portland-vancouver area are not really black, they are always trying to find a way to please the white people around them by treating their own kind like garbage. You are 99% more likely to have a white friend than to have a black friend in this area. I have experienced this first hand so next time you run into idiots like that, put them in their spot and move on...
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I too am a African American woman in Portland. I seem to be met with hostility on a constant basis. It's like they (as in EVERYONE) seem to see me as just another loud, aggressive, Black woman with an attitude. If they bothered to just say hello, they would see my grace, openness, and friendly demeanor.
At stores it's the worst. My fellow African American's don't speak nor look me in the eye. It's like they don't want "Qwita" to "go off", so let me ring her up and get her out of my face. I find my self having to say "Hi, how is your day" just to be acknowledged. It's hard here, unnecessarily hard.
Apreciative post you have drop. thank you for sharing.Oh how I wish it wasn't so, but it really seems like segragation is what people want. Black people don't like white people, white people don't like black people, and the sad thing about it is that no matter how unfair it is to judge or discriminate against anyone, every person who stereo types another person believes they have good reason to. Some white people do things that give white folks in general a bad rap to some black folks and some back folks do things that give black folks in general a bad rap to some white folks. In Gods world we're all loved equally!
This is a dicey one. Hmm...I would talk to the manager about it. Bottom line, you are the customer and he is the employee, period. By the way, I really like your blog.
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