She Said What?!
Let’s take a journey back to the summer of 1997. I am working at a retail store at a local mall during my summer break from college. I held various positions from cashier to assisting in the fitting room, and everything in between. I got an amazing discount on their already beautiful and discounted clothes so as a college student making a little extra money, I was in heaven! Yes, almost half of every paycheck went right back to the store where I had earned it.
I remember this particular day so vividly. It was a Tuesday afternoon, and I was working on the cash register. I called the next customer, and I could already tell that she was not pleasant. I said good afternoon and she proceeded to roll her eyes at me, as if she was annoyed. She slammed her belongings on the counter and waited for me to begin to ring them up. I rung up her items; a few shirts, two pair of pants and a few accessories like a pair of sunglasses and a necklace. I gave her the total and she slammed her credit card down on the counter. Ok rude! That is actually one of my biggest pet peeves. If someone has their hand out to accept your cash or card, put it in their hand. That’s just common courtesy.
As was the normal protocol, I turned the card around to see if it was signed, and it was not, so I asked for identification. And that’s when it happened. The “N “Word. Yes. THAT word! Never in my life had I been called such a vulgarity, and I was completely stunned. She looked me directly in my eyes and said, “Look you little [Insert “N” word here] I don’t have to show you anything.” Utterly shocked, I simply froze in place. There were about five other people in line, and I remember a young woman yelling, “I know she did not just say what I think she said!” Honestly, hearing this woman’s voice was the only thing that snapped me out of my trance. After that, all I could see was red. All I could see were the faces of my ancestors who had been through such atrocities, and pain, and suffering for so long. Having such vulgar and rash insults thrown their way. Insults and vulgarities that unfortunately still happen today, as they are taught and passed down through generations that keep hate alive in their bloodline.
Having been in the best shape of my life at the time, as I was running track back then, and worked out every day, I proceeded to jump over the counter that was separating us, which was about three feet tall. Mind you, I am only a little over five feet tall. If it were not for my supervisor at the time grabbing me and pulling me back, I would have likely tried to choke the life out of this brazen, horrible woman. My supervisor kept saying, “it’s not worth it, it’s not worth it.” Admittedly, by this time, I was shaking, and I was so angry that tears started forming in my eyes.
Due to the commotion, security came out to see what was going on, and several of the people in line, who were just as angry as I was, told them. One woman threatened to follow her. She was very angry. Clearly, I understood. She probably had the same thoughts and emotions going through her mind as I did, when that ignorant devil spewed that word.
Security ended up escorting this ‘thing’ as I will call her, to her car, which honestly annoyed me at first, but once I calmed down, I understood why they did what they did. Following this incident, although I had several hours remaining in my shift, I was mentally and emotionally done for the day. I called my father to pick me up, because I did not want to take public transportation as upset and infuriated as I was. My father was even more upset than I was once I told him what happened. He arrived in about five minutes, even though the drive was normally twenty minutes from our house at the time. That is an incident that I will never forget. The ignorance, bigotry and hate in this world must stop. It is insane.
If you do not like someone because of their personality, or because they did something personally to you that you did not like, that is completely understandable. However, to not like someone simply because they are different than you, and/or a member of another race is completely asinine. You are truly missing out on meeting people that could potentially be a huge blessing in your life, but because of your narrow minded and racist thinking, you will never know just how this person could have affected your life in such a profound and positive way. Let us spread love and not hate.
