Just to see how it’s changed, I ducked into the new Fresh Market on Lawndale. Bigger. More ostentatious.
So, I trudge on over to the meat counter. It took awhile to get service. After a woman in front of me got help, the next meat person totally ignores me. So, I follow after her.
Me: “Miss! Miss! I’m next.”
Her: “Oh, I’m sorry. I thought you two were together (meaning the woman in front of me). You both were (pause/hesitation) wearing the same color.”
Yes, I did notice the hesitation.
The woman waited on before me was African American, too. She was wearing nursing scrubs. I was wearing biz casual. Obvious mistake, right?
Then the meat worker got my order wrong. And didn’t say thank you.
So much for first impressions.
Comments 7
Well, *that’s* despicable.
Posted 02 Apr 2008 at 10:12 am ¶Aw, c’mon, Herb! You know racism doesn’t exist anymore. Just ask BB and Guarino.
Posted 02 Apr 2008 at 7:23 pm ¶But I never said anything about racism JW. Just because the woman and I were both African American was just a coincidence.
This could have happened to two white people as well and I’ve seen it happen. But it just so happens that this type of incident isn’t a first for me. And so that colors my response.
Posted 02 Apr 2008 at 8:25 pm ¶No, you didn’t say anything about racism. It COULD have happened to two white people, but unlike you, I HAVEN’T seen that sort of thing happen often. Of course we’ve all dealt with rude people. We’ve all seen incidents of rudeness. But to be quite honest, it doesn’t happen much to me. Nor do people identify me based on my color of CLOTHES!
Posted 02 Apr 2008 at 8:33 pm ¶I came across a book on a rare visit to the local big box book store called “Black Like Me.” I’m still reading, but it’s interesting and instructive in that a white person tries to explain what it’s like to be black without living the “full experience.” Hey, he knew he could always go back, right?
I put the incident out there for all to see and I purposely didn’t call it racism. I was interested in how people would interpret it.
I let Susan read it before I posted it. She mumbled something that I don’t remember, but shook her head. Her body language spoke volumes about her feelings.
I’m curious about something and I wonder if Susan might research it. If we stopped using the word racism since it’s so politically and emotionally charged and just spoke truth, just told the story as it happened with pertinent details, would the devil be in those details? Or more specifically, would people open up more and see it for what it is - a pattern of thought instilled in each of us through our upbringing and our experiences?
Or in the terms that Susan and I have adopted from the quintessential movie on race, “Blazing Saddles:”
It may or may not be racism since I *finally* got what I ordered, but it certainly fits the definition of the above quote.
And maybe one day I’ll write about the time I was followed around by a security guard at a local jewelry store the whole time I was there looking for a watch band.
No, they didn’t get my money. I got it cheaper at a discount store. And I haven’t been back to that jewelry store since and never will go there again.
Posted 02 Apr 2008 at 11:51 pm ¶Believe me, I am certainly the LAST person to ever lecture someone on racism and if I came across as lecturing, I apologize. I can’t begin to understand it and I don’t pretend to.
I got it that you purposely didn’t call it racism. That’s why I said it. White people are REALLY afraid of that word and the best way to deal with that fear is to deny it exists. If someone were to ask the person at the Fresh Market she would say, “I’m NOT a racist.”
Yeah, you “finally” got what you ordered, but you shouldn’t have had to work so hard for it.
Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 7:52 am ¶Check out Leonard Pitts’ latest column. He touches on this eloquently.
Posted 03 Apr 2008 at 8:20 am ¶