An Unfortunate Turn Of Phrase Left Her Hanging By A Thread

I work in a relatively small clothing store, usually with a coworker. Sometimes the manager is here, and sometimes he’s not. This situation happened while [Coworker] and I were putting away clothes. [Coworker] had a way of saying it like, “Put those pinks on that hanger,” and, “Let’s put those greens in that box,” which was not a problem at all.

When we were in the middle of the store putting away a type of black shirt, I started to fold and put them away in a box. [Coworker] stopped me.

Coworker: “No, don’t do that. We’re going to hang the blacks.”

A second too late, she realized what she was saying, and then her eyes went wide. The people around her (most of them Black) froze, and some turned to stare at her. After a few painful seconds, [Coworker]’s face turned red, and she looked like she was going to burst into tears when an old Black lady tottered over to her. 

Lady: “Don’t worry, hon. It’s not your fault.”

After that, [Coworker] started crying and ran into the staff room.

Ten minutes later, she came out looking ashamed and apologized sincerely to everyone who had heard what she said. She told me later that she sent the old lady a thank-you note because she left before [Coworker] came back out, and now guess who’s been coming back every month as a regular customer?