Unfiltered Story #219037

(I used to work at a thrift store, where at least half of the customers spoke Spanish. Part of my job was to fill out claim tickets for collectibles, and at least once or twice a week, I had to ask somebody who understood Spanish to come over and help me out. While it was somewhat of a nuisance not to be able to communicate with these people as well, I always thought our little hodgepodge of languages was kind of cool. One day, while waiting for me to complete his ticket, a disgruntled customer dropped this little bombshell.)

Customer: “Man, I am SO tired of all these Spanish-speaking people! They’re everywhere! They’re practically taking over the country! They’re even forcing kids to learn Spanish in school! Why must we be exposed to all this Spanish, anyway? This is America!”

Me: (way too polite to say it out loud) “Um, by your logic, sir, none of us should be here. After all, didn’t most of our ancestors come from Europe?”

(It might have been a minor thing, but I believe that was the first time I saw racism’s ugly face, up close and personal.)