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VIEWPOINT: Rude or racist, brushoff not good for city |
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By Yvonne D. Hawkins
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Tuesday, 17 July 2007 |
The clerk behind the gas station counter brushed me off with such a sense of disdain that it made me decide to return another day for the sheer purpose of sticking it to this man.
And, to think, I intentionally had driven several miles out of my way to stop there because I hadn’t ever been inside the store.
So on a recent Sunday evening, I stepped to the store’s counter to pay for coffee that I was buying.
That’s when the clerk took one look at me, waved his hands dismissively and said: “Go away.”
Stunned, I blinked my eyes a few times, trying to comprehend what was happening. Surely, there’s some miscommunication going on, I thought.
“I’m buying some coffee,” I said.
“I know,” he said. Waving this time at both me and my coffee. “Go away,” he insisted.
Still not quite understanding what was happening, I took my cappuccino and left.
To be fair, I wondered as I was walking out of the door whether the clerk was making a clumsy attempt to be generous and in some odd way indicating “This one’s on me.”
After all, I wasn’t buying gas, just a cup of joe. Maybe he was trying to be nice, and I didn’t hang around long enough to see if other customers were given free coffee, too.
But that “go away” comment rang through my ears again, and I replayed the tone of his voice as well as his body language – none of which suggested any lightheartedness.
So I began wondering whether my dollar and some change had been rejected based on race while I mulled other options of how to interpret the experience.
On one hand, I’ve learned to give people the same benefit of the doubt I’d like to receive. Misunderstandings happen so easily – and so quickly. And damage done because of rushed judgments are repaired very slowly.
I’ve also learned never to totally ignore that stupid, ignorant behavior remains among us.
Not knowing exactly which case I was dealing with, the situation still was weird enough to make me decide to avoid spending my money there. I have better things to do than to figure out whether a business welcomes me or not. If that isn’t clear from the beginning, I’m gone.
Even after the experience, my gut tells me that this business could use some diversity training – or at least a manners class. After all, the Sioux Falls area is growing more diverse. That means people from a variety of backgrounds will interpret behaviors in different ways.
And though it’s often said that embracing diversity is good business, the reality is it’s deeper than that. It speaks of who we are and who we will become as a community.
Thankfully, my gas station experience was a rare one, and it was almost the polar opposite of one that I witnessed only days before.
In that instance, I had stopped by a bank near John Morrell & Co., whose work force is among the most diverse in the city. The experience is worth recalling, and I’ll do that in an upcoming column.
After all, businesses always will be bellwethers of how well we all can get along. |