My outting at McDonalds at 1 am or the day I was ashamed for being white

[Snake_Plissken]

Ok here's the story.

I own a video store and I finished my shift at midnight (I started working at 9 am) and my afternoon lunch was kinda far. For 'X' reason I had this craving for a few cheeseburgers and a few McNuggets. 2 minutes from here there's a McD opened late. I close shop and I go there.

Now, obviously there isn't a lot of employees at McD during the night shifts so sometimes they can get their hands full pretty quickly so you have to be pretty patient. The line-up was small so I waited.

In front of me were a pack of scruffy looking dudes dressed as if they had been yanked from the '80s (I'd say 1986). They didn't have mullets but they sure had the attitude.

There was one lonely kid taking the orders in front. He happened to be black. The a******* in front of me were white. So the leader of the pack, some toothless retard with a French (ie from France, not Quebec) started yelling at the kid. "Where's our order?" "come on move faster!" "you people are slow!!!" (no doubt referring to his ethnicity), etc. I was perplexed as to why this fine gentleman was so in a hurry to block his arteries with that delicious crap, but hey. The kid was trying to deal with it, to his credit. But then understandably he lost his cool and told the merry bunch to "f*** o**". They went ballistic on the kid; I was afraid it would even turn violent so my mind switched to 'tactical' (don't laugh- I can mess anyone up with my Kubotan in my pocket... nasty devices) then the kid got wiser and ignored them and said "next customer please". So I stepped forward but the French d*** was still going at it- so I angrily told him "Can I place my f****** order now?" and the d***less b**** and the pack of retards he lead left. And here comes the beauty. As the last retard left he said:

"what did you expect, he's just a n*****".

Real beautiful. And classy too. I wanted to melt right there. I asked the poor clerked if he was 'cool' and if he wanted a few seconds to gather his thoughts. He said "I'm fine. How may I help you?". I placed my order and I told him "a piece of advice: next time don't play their game and just say that if they don't behave you'll call the cops. Usually they'll leave without saying anything."

What really struck me was that the kid had a clean cut and was polite. And hard-working too... I mean come on, flipping burgers at 1 am for 6$/hour. Then you had these unshaved and unwashed bastards who have the gall to threat a kid like crap just because they didn't get their burgers in less than 2 minutes.

Earlier today, I had this long discussion with one of my clients about family and we asked ourselves hypothetical questions like "what if your daughter came home with a girlfriend" sort of thing. And we hit THE classic: what if your daughter brought home a black boyfriend? I said "ah no, no way!!!"... but to be fair to myself I told him: "come to think of it I'd be pissed if ANY man would touch my daughter". But when I sat down to wolf up my cheeseburgers I recalled that earlier conversation and I thought: "you know what, if I had a daughter I'd take that black kid who served me anyday as my son-in-law compared to the average joe"

When I finished my meal, I drew a business card from my wallet, I walked to the counter and I talked to the kid. I told him that's where I work and if he gets in trouble with the manager for rightfully standing up to those guys I'd vouch for him and tell the manager that he kept his cool while they threatened him. He was thankful and smiled at me.

For the record, I had 3 cheeseburgers, 10 McNuggets and a Coke.

[Renny]

You, sir, are a class act.

Renny

[Phantom]

Yeah, there are some pieces of work out there that think just because you work behind a counter for minimum wage, they can walk all over you.

[Lt.Khrys Antos]

I enjoy threatening pieces of crap like that, I can't stand racial comments and I don't care when its the embassy staff doing it.

Now for the most important question; did you...supersize it?!

[Snake_Plissken]

You, sir, are a class act.

Sometimes yes, sometimes no.

Yeah, there are some pieces of work out there that think just because you work behind a counter for minimum wage, they can walk all over you.

Yeah but you as the employee can't say a thing. I know a guy who works at Wal-Mart and one day some hysterical woman started beating him up with her purse and he tried to block the hits. HE was the one who got reprimended because he tried to defend himself!!!! That's the cool thing about being a business owner (and one that has almost no competition since we're specialised in cult movies) is that I can tell off a dude who's giving me a hard time (almost never happens though).

Now for the most important question; did you...supersize it?!

I didn't get fries and since they do refills I ordered a small coke. Funny thing I noticed: today's "small" cokes are as big as the "large" formats when I wasa kid. With that 'supersize' movie thing going around my GF and I are shamed into not supersizing anything!

[Publius]

Originally posted by Snake_Plissken
Earlier today, I had this long discussion with one of my clients about family and we asked ourselves hypothetical questions like "what if your daughter came home with a girlfriend" sort of thing. And we hit THE classic: what if your daughter brought home a black boyfriend? I said "ah no, no way!!!"... but to be fair to myself I told him: "come to think of it I'd be pissed if ANY man would touch my daughter". But when I sat down to wolf up my cheeseburgers I recalled that earlier conversation and I thought: "you know what, if I had a daughter I'd take that black kid who served me anyday as my son-in-law compared to the average joe"

I wouldn't be too worried about your initial reaction, especially when you had a chance to think about it and came to the later realization. A lot of this is about being exposed to situations that you have been coded socially to avoid (as tolerant as society is progressing to become today, intreraccial dating was still considered taboo in vast sections of the country as little as ten years ago). A lot of it can be generational as well, which leads me to a story of my own.

The idea of an interraccial relationship was somewhat alien sounding to the vast majority of people in my parent's generation and their initial reaction to my entering into an interracial relationship would best be summed up as "concern". They didn't get angry or hysterical or anything, they were simply concerned. My parents, who are quite easygoing and politically/philosophically very 'liberal', carried around a lot of baggage from that 1950s "everybody stay within their own group" perspective they grew up with. Both of them had parents who were born at the tail end of the 19th century, as children the ideas they got about race (and a lot of other things) were from a whole different era than even those in their peer-group.

Much to their credit, after they met my girlfriend they had no problems whatsoever and today they really don't even notice the racial difference most of the time. When people give she and I odd looks (although it happens a lot less now than it did five years ago) or when together we get less-than-decent service at restaurants they otherwise get great service at alone (i.e. when she and I are not there with them) they don't even make a connection to race. It truly broadened their perspective and made them challenge some of those other assumptions and taboos they were brought up with. Heck, they don't even have a problem with her being a witch

[Space_Cadet]

I wonder if the taboo of interracial relationships is restricted to black males/white females? I also wonder why some would think its "taboo"? are they worreid that heritage will be lost or what?

[Publius]

Well, I am a white male, and my girlfriend is a black female and there are still people with issues. Suffice to say that Nazis, White Supremicists and Farrakhaners don't like me very much (as if I care). She has told me that there is actually a color conflict within the black community: as she is quite dark there is apparently more of an issue with her being with a white man than if she were lighter-skinned. I'm not entirely certain what the reasoning is myself, nor do I really care to learn more about the 'reasoning' of prejudices generally but this is an area of some confusion for me in the first place. I was raised in an all-white semi-rural/quasi suburb area (i.e. farms all around my house but still twenty minutes by expressway from Flint michigan) so the issue of 'color' (light vs. dark) as opposed to 'race' (black vs. white) was something that had to be explained to me when I was an adult. I frankly still find it somewhat odd, but it is apparently a long running historical conflict often thought of (correctly or not) as being rooted in miscegenation (which ironically happens to be the topic at hand).

[RaconteurX]

Snake, you're the Duke... Duke... Duke of New York! You're A-number one! Seriously. Having worked many lousy jobs in my lifetime, I know what it is like "in the trenches" and always treat waitpersons, salespeople and whatnot in a polite and generous fashion. Simple civility is beyond so many people these days, it seems. Would that more people kept to the Golden Rule: "Treat others as you hope they would treat you."

As a male of Northern European descent (few have more trouble acquiring a tan, let alone maintaining one) who has dated women of the majority of broad ethnic categories (such as Latina, Native American, African-American, etc.), in my experience many people have difficulty adjusting to interracial couples at first but "come around" in fairly short order... at least in front of the couple. The amount of gossip which goes on out of their presence is another thing entirely, and can still damage the relationship.

[Tas II]

Snake: Good for you for sticking up for the counter staff! (No matter what ethinicity!) :-)

Whenever I hear about racial problems and the 'taboo' aspect I always chuckle when I think about my past girlfriends....

Scene: I was visiting my then girlfriend at her house. we had been dating for about a month or so, and this was my second time over at her place. For the record, I am white, she is black. I had gone to the loo (apologies, that is rest room for our colonial members! :-)), and when I came down to the lounge I overheard the following conversation:

Dad: "Why are you seeing a white boy? i don't want to lose our race (ie colour) amongst the white folks. Why are you making us lose our colour to them?"

Girlfriend: "Dad! Get real! we have been dating for a month! If we have kids, which is waaaaaaaay down the line, I will add colour to his race, not take it from mine!"

Suffice to say, I was trying hard not to laugh when I came into the room. I loved that girl's attitude. We had the same ideas about race, religion and creed. As long as people are happy, who cares what colour a couple is?

Cheers

Tas

[Antonsb214]

It's times like that when you wish you had a phaser.... or bat leth.... depending on how "neat" you want to be.
Living in lovely Georgia, USA, I've had to deal with some racism and bigotry from a somewhat unique (at least for my area) perspective, I'm part Asian, this made me the ultimate minority in the area, so I got teased/picked on by what seemed like everybody else, most of the time I was able to rise above it, but I did get into a few fights in school, but after twenty years I guess they got used to the idea that mutts like myself were here to stay, and there were more of us.
Now, our family reunions look like a United Nations meeting, but we get more done....
As far as I can find out, being a historian and all... my family is mixed French, German, English, Irish, Cherokee, Vietnamese, and Polish. So without "interracial" relationships I wouldn't be here.
Now some may not be aware of it, but there was/is a lot a racism between the "white" ethnic groups too, depending on which point in history you're looking at. Most of the mixing in my family tree occured in the early 1800's, and some more in the later 1800's, pretty much with major waves of people coming to America.
I've had relatives in almost every war this country has fought (we didn't get here until the 1830's), up to the current operation in Iraq and both sides in the Civil War/War Between the States.
I don't even know which box to check under "ethnic group" on job applications

[strict31]

Some years back, I worked at a coffee/cigar shop. I had just started the job maybe three months before. One of the few black people working there. The people that owned the place had three shops scattered across the city, and out of 20+ employees, there were three black folks. That wasn't really a big deal to me. I was working across the street from college and was mostly satisfied. Seemed like a cool job, and for the most part, for the first year, it was.

So, anyway, three months into the job, I'm still learning why people like Avos and Fuentes and the like, but I've got a ristretto doppio macchiato down; I've learned never to touch the apricot flavored coffee...stinks the store up for the entire day. And I've learned never to work on the same shift as my manager. That night, as I'm starting to break down the machine for back-flushing, a guy comes in, all chatty and stinking of the liquor. I put on my semi-coprorate smile and say, "How can I help you?"

While he does take his time trying to decide if he wants the columbian supremo or the kenya AA, he doesn't take long to start the insults. Since I hadn't been racially insulted in, oh, several weeks, I was kinda surprised when i heard the words actually come out of his mouth. I tried to take it in stride when he said, "I didn't know you people actually drank coffee." I countered him by dropping some science about the origins of coffee. Meanwhile, I'm expecting my manager to step forth and say something, since he's standing three feet away.

Manager says nothing.

So the customer goes on with a response to my attempt to educate him. "They had time to brew coffee while swinging from tree to tree?"

I glance at my manager, waiting for him to step forward as a manager should in this situation.

Manager, again, says nothing.

So, the guy said something else which now escapes memory. Instead of simply killing him, I decided to confuse him.

"Yeah, that's what the star-spangled Kong of Babylon would like you to believe. He's on a mission to make the world decidely less than funky by perpetrating eggregious fallacy. All thanks be to George and the undeniable truth of P-Funk."

The guy gives me an odd look, trying to figure out if I just insulted him. I think he was also concerned about whether it would be a good or bad idea to respond. So, he gets a cup of coffee and takes it to the register. Though the manager tried to have me ring the guy out by pretending to be otherwise occupied, I just continued cleaning the rancilio. Eventually the manager rings him out and the guy leaves.

Afterwards, I go up to my manager and ask him why he didn't say anything. "Well, guy," he says, "sometimes you have to absorb some punishment from the customer..."

"Uh, right..."

So the next day, the HR guy (Human Resources was an almost entirely fictional position within the company) calls me up at work and says, "so yeah, we got a problem here. John (the manager) informed me of a conflict you had with the customer that came in last night? He said you handled it inappropriately."

"Well, if you think that slicing open his belly would have been actually the appropriate response, then sure. I defused the conflict and expedited the customer since John didn't see fit to lift a finger to do his job as manager."

The HR guy has worked with John before. "That's exactly what I thought. Just checking to make sure. Matter's closed. Well done."

It actually helped to show me what a manager wasn't supposed to do...Two years later, when I was given the manager's responsibility (notably without the manager's pay...but that's a whole different story), I didn't brook anyone insulting my workers. I've had people kicked out by the police rather than let them eat shit from some jerky bastich.



There is a stigma within the black community about dating "outside your race." As a black man, it comes from black women. If you date a white girl, expect to hear about it from all the black women you know. I think the same applies to black women who date white men. But it's not just about dating. "He tryin' to pretend like he somethin' he ain't." No, that's just me adopting the linguistic patterns of whatever social/ethnic group I'm standing in at any given moment. I find that helps communication and that. And there is definitely a "black mode of thinking." There are "black tastes" and "interests."

I recall one time, another job long ago. Mostly black co-workers. Well...all black co-workers. White bosses though. So there's this young black male who has given up the drugs and guns for Nation of Islam. He kept trying to get me to convert, and couldn't figure out why I wasn't interested. So I finally asked him, "Have you ever actually read the Final Call that FOI gives away to people? I have. I've read about the so-called origin of white people created as a hideous experiment by a rogue super being named Yacub. (Oh and if you doubt this, read the Final Call.) Does that sound scientific to you?"

"Well, well, this is what the honorable Elijah Muhammed and Louis Farrakhan told us to...did you say 'Yacub'?"

"Maybe you shouldn't place so much blind faith in the words of a man who, in all likelihood had more than a little to do with malcom X's demise. Think about who came to power in the wake of the man's death, son. Think with your own mind."

Of course, I have no idea if Farrakhan had anything to do with Malcom X's death. But it made him think. he didn't mention it to me again.

I can't go out of my front door and talk to the guy across the street about Trek. or D&D or Star Wars. These are not subjects that bear the stamp of approval.

It's like that Bill Hicks routine. "Whadda we got here? A READER?!?"

God, I recall this fine baby in college. I later discovered she was the daughter of one of the regular customers at the coffee shop, and I was friends with him. The girl was utterly smitten with my voice. So I'm like, you know, this girl likes me, she's fly and she's smart as hell. Is this or is this not a score? But our interests did not coincide. I don't think I was interested enough by her estimation in "The Struggle." There were certain books that I had to read, certain artists I had to like and follow, certain music, that sort of thing.

I'm not trying to say that all black people are like this. Every ethnic group has some sort of elitist snobbery. I've noticed that, in general, white people share an intense dislike of what they refer to as "hessians," or "poor white trash." I was shocked the first time I heard a white person refer to another white person as poor white trash. Every ethnicity has its black sheep. one of the great equalizers among the various colors of man on this planet is that we always find reason to exclude somebody...

Anyway, I gotta grab some Zzzzs. Long day.


Strictly Speaking