Racism Is Weird

I’m working at a store that sells, among other things, energy drinks. An older man is looking at one of the energy drink displays, so I go over to see if he needs help.

Customer: “Are these things any good?”

Me: “I like them; my favorite’s the watermelon flavor. “

Customer: “Oh, you shouldn’t get those! Never get the watermelon flavor.”

Me: “Why not?”

Customer: *Sounding completely, 100% serious* “Eating too much watermelon or watermelon flavoring darkens your skin and turns you Black.”

Me: “…” 

Customer: “And I’d rather be dead than Black! Ha! So, no watermelon for me, and you’d better stop eating it, too.”

I regret to say I didn’t have any sort of clever comeback. I just found an excuse to go straighten product in another section until my coworker checked him out. It always stuck out in my memory as one of the weirdest racist things I’ve ever heard.