Say What?

I was steaming mad earlier today about a bothersome event I witnessed while grocery shopping at Safeway. As a means of catharsis, I am posting a blog about it.

I had to pick up a few things for dinner tonight and, with Mick's mum staying home with Jack, I was able to sneak out to do a very productive errand run. As I stood in line behind a woman who had a child (maybe 18 months old) in her cart, I heard the cashier ask her how many ears of corn she had in her produce bag. The woman looked a bit confused, gave a bit of an embarrassed smile, and shrugged. The cashier again said (loudly) "I said, how many ears of corn do you have?" This time, the woman picked up the bags and meekly handed them over to the cashier. At this point, the cashier dramatically rolled her eyes and said "I should know better than to even talk to you people... oh, I better watch what I say before I get into trouble." No one was with me to verify this, but I'm pretty sure that at this point, my jaw was hanging onto the floor. I could NOT believe it.

I stood silently by and watched the cashier aggressively throw this woman's groceries into her bag. When she finished the transaction, she said (as is customary) "do you need help out to your car?" and then about two seconds later said "I don't even know why I'm asking you - you obviously don't understand."

So why didn't the woman understand? Was she deaf? Was she mute? She may have been. However, I suspect the reason the cashier was so fuming mad and the reason she referred to the woman as part of a group of "you people" was because this woman was Hispanic. The cashier probably was annoyed that this woman could not speak (or understand?) English. But what if the reason she wasn't responding was because she was deaf? Or because she was visiting America briefly from South or Central America? I bet the cashier didn't consider these possibilities.

Anyway, as I stood watching this, I could feel myself getting angrier by the moment. As the cashier was sweeping my items through, I debated whether to say anything. I could hear Mick telling me not to cause a scene. But I could also feel my conscience saying that I couldn't possibly let this go. Isn't silence sometimes a sign that you condone what you've seen or heard?

So, as the cashier handed me my receipt and said "thank you, Mrs. Collins," I leaned in and, very quietly (so as not to make a scene) said very firmly "I hope you are never in a situation where you require some extra help. What you just did and said to that customer is appalling and you should be ashamed to have treated another person that way." She sort of stumbled through a lame "I'm sorry" which I barely heard as I was grabbing my bags and marching out of the store.

I then got into the car and had to take a few deep breaths before starting the engine. Why this bothered me so much, I don't know. But I did end up calling the store to speak with the manger. I suggested that the cashier engage in some cultural diversity training or, at the very least, be moved out of a customer relations position. I told this manager that because the customer (who looked so humiliated by the time she left that store) could not stick up for herself, I would do it for her. I think about how much more bothered I would have been had Jack seen that behavior and had understood what was happening. I would have had to have a long conversation with him, explaining that that is NOT how we treat other people. It's simply not kind. Sadly, this woman's young daughter was witness to her mother being humiliated in public.

So I've vented, and feel marginally better. I hope that the cashier is thinking as much about this situation as I am; maybe next time she'll make a more prudent choice when she speaks to someone who is (gasp!) different from her.