Stamped As A Racist

I work in a USPS CPU. This means we mainly only ship things out, but we also sell stamps. An elderly lady walks in and looks at the stamps we have on the door.

Me: “Looking to buy some stamps?”

Customer: “Yes, I want to get stamps I don’t already have.”

Me: “Okay, well, everything we have is up on the door.”

Customer: “How long have all of these been up?”

Me: “Most of them we have had for a month or two already.”

We have Chien Shiung Wu stamps. She was a Chinese nuclear physicist. We also have August Wilson stamps for Black Heritage. These two are normally not as popular, so I have a feeling she doesn’t have them.

Me: “We have stamps for a Chinese nuclear physicist if you—”

Customer: “No. Nothing Chinese! I don’t want anything to do with the Chinese!”

I didn’t know how to process this because this was the most racist thing anyone had done in front of me. I didn’t have the heart to tell her I was Chinese, as I don’t have the standard oriental look. She chose her other stamps. I just smiled under my mask. I almost told her once I finished her transaction, but I didn’t. I’m sure her face would have been priceless.