Throwing "Discrimination" around indiscriminately
This never happened at the big store, or at least I never heard it happening. Since I have been at this little store, I have experienced it personally, well, watched it happen once and heard about it 2 other times. What am I talking about? People throwing around the word "Discrimination" to get what they want or better yet, to put the fear of God into you.
The one time I saw it happen, this man used the word in order for us to circumvent store policy so he could get cash back on a purchase his daughter had made. Store policy clearly says we don't give cash back unless you have a receipt saying you paid cash. He didn't have one, but throw the word "DISCRIMINATION" out there and people will bend over backward trying to get you what you want, even if you don't deserve it. So we gave him cash back. As he was about to walk out the store, he thanked us for our respect. That wasn't respect, that was fear. And believe me, they are NOT the same thing. And I am sorry for the world that he lives in that he thinks that they are the same or doesn't recognize the difference.
And yes, the other 2 times it has happened I wasn't around...well, one of them I was around but didn't know what was happening until afterwards. All I saw was a co-worker, who wants to be a children's librarian, profusely apologizing to another person. I found out later it was all because she told him twice that the store was closing in 5 minutes. Well, geez, if you don't acknowledge that you heard us, we are going to repeat ourselves in hopes that you will hear us the second time. That has nothing to do with what ethnicity you are. So this woman I work with, who is working herself through graduate school to be a librarian, has to deal with this animosity. We are not paid enough to deal with this crap.
Throw that word out enough and it will be a case of the boy who cried wolf, if it isn't already. And everyone, in this lifetime, has experienced some form of discrimination so don't think we don't have a clue. We all have problems. What separates us, truly, is how we deal with them.
The one time I saw it happen, this man used the word in order for us to circumvent store policy so he could get cash back on a purchase his daughter had made. Store policy clearly says we don't give cash back unless you have a receipt saying you paid cash. He didn't have one, but throw the word "DISCRIMINATION" out there and people will bend over backward trying to get you what you want, even if you don't deserve it. So we gave him cash back. As he was about to walk out the store, he thanked us for our respect. That wasn't respect, that was fear. And believe me, they are NOT the same thing. And I am sorry for the world that he lives in that he thinks that they are the same or doesn't recognize the difference.
And yes, the other 2 times it has happened I wasn't around...well, one of them I was around but didn't know what was happening until afterwards. All I saw was a co-worker, who wants to be a children's librarian, profusely apologizing to another person. I found out later it was all because she told him twice that the store was closing in 5 minutes. Well, geez, if you don't acknowledge that you heard us, we are going to repeat ourselves in hopes that you will hear us the second time. That has nothing to do with what ethnicity you are. So this woman I work with, who is working herself through graduate school to be a librarian, has to deal with this animosity. We are not paid enough to deal with this crap.
Throw that word out enough and it will be a case of the boy who cried wolf, if it isn't already. And everyone, in this lifetime, has experienced some form of discrimination so don't think we don't have a clue. We all have problems. What separates us, truly, is how we deal with them.
posted by Catherine | 2:46 PM
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