AMonger
Veteran Expediter
Stopped into a Walmart in upstate NY. The greeter approached me as I was walking in and informed me that automated payment systems were down and that only cash transactions could be completed. When he approached me, he leaned way in to me, which I didn't appreciate because truckstops with showers aren't really plentiful up here so I'm overdue. I wouldn't have cared for it, regardless, just because he was invading my space. He was the epitome of the Seinfeldian close-talker.
So I'm doing my shopping, and a large, simple i.e. dim-witted fellow of another race came in. The greeter attempts to inform him of the cash-only thing, and the guy explodes, yelling and ranting and raving. He demanded a manager, and the young customer service manager, who seemed more like a counter guy at Taco Bell--a kid, really-- stepped up, and the guy starts yelling about how the greeter wanted to check him as he came in. The CS manager is trying to calm him down and explain what the greeter was doing, but he would have none of it.
He demanded the kid's name, even his last name, and made what sounded like threats.
"YOU WANNA ---? YOU WANNA ---?"
I wasn't catching the last word, but I think it was, "You wanna go?" i.e. engage in fisticuffs. The kid was doing a decent job of de-escalating the situation, not taking any bait. The customer pointed angrily in the other direction, yelling, "WALK AWAY! WALK AWAY!" and then continued on to shop. I'm thinking, "Geez, what a dumb@$$.“
I saw the CS manager as I checked out, and I mentioned how the close talking thing may have helped create the misunderstanding. He was sure this guy was going to press the matter in the morning. It's New York, so maybe some Civil Rights Commission might even exist to get involved.
But the thing is, this dumb@$$ will go on believing that "the man" is "KEEPING THE BLACK MAN DOWN" and that he was really profiled and mistreated by racists tonight. He'll tell his friends and family, and they'll tell their friends, and the non-story will grow. And theyll go, "SEE?!?!", a tally being made in their minds of confirmation of racism.
I wonder how many reports of racism are like this, misunderstood incidents that become racism.
--
You know the problem with bad cops? They make the other 5% look bad.
So I'm doing my shopping, and a large, simple i.e. dim-witted fellow of another race came in. The greeter attempts to inform him of the cash-only thing, and the guy explodes, yelling and ranting and raving. He demanded a manager, and the young customer service manager, who seemed more like a counter guy at Taco Bell--a kid, really-- stepped up, and the guy starts yelling about how the greeter wanted to check him as he came in. The CS manager is trying to calm him down and explain what the greeter was doing, but he would have none of it.
He demanded the kid's name, even his last name, and made what sounded like threats.
"YOU WANNA ---? YOU WANNA ---?"
I wasn't catching the last word, but I think it was, "You wanna go?" i.e. engage in fisticuffs. The kid was doing a decent job of de-escalating the situation, not taking any bait. The customer pointed angrily in the other direction, yelling, "WALK AWAY! WALK AWAY!" and then continued on to shop. I'm thinking, "Geez, what a dumb@$$.“
I saw the CS manager as I checked out, and I mentioned how the close talking thing may have helped create the misunderstanding. He was sure this guy was going to press the matter in the morning. It's New York, so maybe some Civil Rights Commission might even exist to get involved.
But the thing is, this dumb@$$ will go on believing that "the man" is "KEEPING THE BLACK MAN DOWN" and that he was really profiled and mistreated by racists tonight. He'll tell his friends and family, and they'll tell their friends, and the non-story will grow. And theyll go, "SEE?!?!", a tally being made in their minds of confirmation of racism.
I wonder how many reports of racism are like this, misunderstood incidents that become racism.
--
You know the problem with bad cops? They make the other 5% look bad.
