Racism Never Adds Up
I work in a bookstore that has a large educational and textbook section. A woman walks up to the helpdesk, looks at me, looks around, sees no one else available to help, sighs, and then approaches me.
Customer: “My son is starting high school after summer, and I want him to get ahead in his math.”
Me: “That’s great! We have a huge selection of guides to mathematics, both general and specific. Is there any area in particular you’d like him to focus on?”
Customer: “Algebra.”
I bring her over to the relevant section. As we head over, we’re joined by her son. He identifies a specific book before I can even recommend it.
Me: “Good choice! This is the book I actually used when—”
Customer: “Look, I’m sure you’re a nice boy and all that, but my son is going to be going places. I’m sure working in a bookstore in America is a great achievement for someone from… your part of the world, but if my son is going to be Ivy League, I need him to be using something more advanced than what you used to get into a job at a bookstore.”
I am silent for a moment, not because I am angry — this happens to me a lot as I am of Moroccan descent — but because her son looks like he is about to explode.
Customer’s Son: “Mom! You can’t be serious!”
Customer: “What? I’m not being mean; I’m just calling it how I see it.”
Me: “I’m an American, ma’am, same as you.”
Customer: *Scoffs* “You are not the same as me! I’m a full-blooded American who can trace her lineage back to the fifth president of the United States!”
Me: “Unless you’re Native American, then I’m as full-blooded as you are. My relatives are from Morocco, and yours are from Europe.”
Customer: “Look, I just need you to get your manager or someone else more qualified to recommend a book for my son.”
Customer’s Son: “Mom, his relatives invented Algebra. Ours invented gerrymandering. I’m going to be just fine with his recommendations, thanks.”
And with that, he chose my book recommendation and walked back to the checkouts with his (mercifully silenced) mother glaring at me as they left.
Question of the Week
Have you ever served a bad customer who got what they deserved?
