I’ve been working in retail for the past couple of months while on the hunt for a somewhat fulfilling full-time position…but that’s beside the point. I happened to be at the store today, and a certain woman came in. After going through the normal greetings at the cashwrap, I proceeded to complete her transaction. After paying for part her transaction with a gift card, she reached into her purse and pulled out some shiny gold coins. Normally, I would have gladly accepted the coins as tender towards her purchase (the coins are issued by the shopping center), but because of issues with redeeming them at the bank, the store was temporarily not accepting them. In a frustrated tone, the woman asked me if that was the case with all stores in the shopping center, or just ours. I told her I was not aware of what issues other stores might be having, but our store was not accepting them. I contacted a manager (while she was present), and confirmed that our particular store was definitely not accepting that tender. Begrudgingly, she paid for the remainder of her balance with her credit card while she mumbled under her breath that it was a tremendous inconvenience. Before she left the store, she told me that we should put a sign up to let customers know we were not accepting these gold coins, so customers would know before hand. About an hour later, my manager approaches me, and tells me that the manager of the center just contacted him saying that the concierge had a customer complaint from a woman. The woman had told the concierge that a cashier had not accepted her gold coins because she was black. WHAT!!!
I hope this doesn’t say anything about me, but this is not the first time this has happened. I can’t help but wonder, “If I was white, would they have said the same thing?” Do I have an obligation to go out of my way to show every person with brown skin that I see their color? What type of thought process goes into an individual making such a hasty judgment about MY intentions?
That's deep bro.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to ask her if she felt so uncomfortable in that environment because she was black, that she thought I was merely addressing her own underlying issues? But I'm no therapist, so, what do I know?
ReplyDeletei hate that... why do they think that? this world will never get any better so it seems. sigh.
ReplyDeleteIf you are a person with brown skin -- yes, you have an obligation to go out of your way to acknowledge them whether that is acknowledging their color or otherwise.
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As far as your inference that "if you were white," she would have acted differently -- I do not agree. If you were white, I think she would have made the same complaint. But, interestingly, the fact is that many minorities discriminate against other minorities.
Anonymous 2
ReplyDeleteIf I understand you correctly, you mean to tell me that she was justified in accusing that I refused to accept her tender because she was black? The question was not whether I acknowledged someone. I asked if I have to let each individual with brown skin know that I see their brown skin. I showed her no different treatment than I show any other customer.
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As far as the question regarding "if I were white," I did not say she would have acted differently. I meant to question the grounds for her making such a heavy assumption against the reasoning behind my actions. Yes there is racial discrimination on various levels, but at the same time I clearly stated the rules. It wasn't just against her.