Guest Anonymous Posted June 5, 2003 Share Posted June 5, 2003 Pretty sure I was a victim of prejudice today. So I walk into my schools bookstore to sell off some books now that it's the end of the term. As soon as I walk thru the door the alarm goes off. The lady behind the counter takes one look at me and tells me that I need to let her hold onto my backpack. First of all I dont see how I can be a threat by taking stolen books INTO the store I stole them from which I obviously wasnt doing and second 2 girls had just walked OUT of the store right past me when the alarm went off. When two white girls walk out and a latino looking guy walks in and the alarm goes off and I get my backpack taken away tt really gives me reason to think that I was singled out. On my way out she made me walk with her while she carried my bag outside for me. The only reason I can think of her doing this is to make sure i dont swipe anything. The best part is when we walked back outside the alarm did NOT go off so it obviously wasn't me. Now im really glad this is my last term here. Sorry for being such a downer I don't really have anyone else to listen to me vent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest polarity Posted June 5, 2003 Share Posted June 5, 2003 not saying what she did was right, but just something to think about. Maybe there was some sort of metal detector and she might have thought you could have had a weapon.. Like I said though, she should not have singled you out, and if it was just an alarm she should have stopped the girls. I was just trying to give another point of view.. billy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 I wasn't there and I don't know ALL the circumstances, but I'll give you a few thoughts: Not letting folks walk around a store with their backpacks is S.O.P around here. I remember my time in college at A&M, when backpacks on guys were like purses with girls. They went EVERYWHERE with you, and nobody looked twice. Times have changed, and theft losses are forcing merchants to hold onto backpacks, large purses, and day-bags while customers shop. It's not "fair", but it is realistic. Taking your backpack was a wise precaution, for both their protection and yours. If your bag beeped on the way in, it's a good bet that it would have beeped on the way out. And if there was something in there that you purchased elsewhere that activated the sensor, how would you PROVE you hadn't shoplifted it? What she did removed all possible blame from you, and worked in your favor. As far as walking you to the door with your bag, it may have been nothing more than her thinking that the sensor would go off again, and she would have to reset the warning alarm as you passed through it. She may have also been trying to keep somone (not you, specifically) from working a scam on the store. Don't get mad at her for doing her job. As far as any racism or bigotry, I have to ask how you were dressed and acting? I don't know you and don't make any assumptions about how you typically dress yourself. I'm sure you're cleancut and the following rant will NOT apply to you. It really chaps my ass when I see some black guy dressed up in baggy oversized pants and sports jersey with his visor on upside down and sideways, wearing $5,000 in flashy gold rings and chains, shuffling around like a wasted crack junkie, complaining about how he's stereotyped. Jeez, you dress like a junkie, you look like a junkie, you talk like a junkie, you walk like a junkie, and you're shocked when someone THINKS YOU'RE A JUNKIE??? How stupid can you possibly be? Act like you wish to be perceived, folks. Now, if you were cleanly dressed and acting civilized, and she saw that you were hispanic and handed you a weedeater, THAT might be racism. I encourage you to attempt to see the best motivation in people when you are unaware of their motives. Sure, you'll be wrong a lot, but the world will appear to be a better, more pleasant place to live, and you'll be much less stressed out. Whenever possible, assume the best. Just some thoughts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 Now I'm not saying she was racist. But I'm deffinately saying she was being prejudice. And I'm a very clean cut guy and only thing close to jewlry is my watch. The alarm isn't a medal detector otherwise it would go off as often as the ones in the airports where belt buckles and keys set them off. Anyways on my way out my friend came in and this guy is not what u would consider close to clean cut. His shirt had holes in it and everything and I jokingly said "Hey man she gots to take your bag" and she then looked at me and said "No I don't." and kept walking. This school I go to is 99% white and I'm not saying all but some of them are pretty ignorant, whenever school clubs becomes a topic there is always an argument between a couple of guys and the teacher at why there shouldln't be a "White Club" because there is an "Alaskan Club" and other such ethnic clubs. Anyways it wasn't untill I spent a few years here that some people don't give a rats ass about character if they know it or not. What matters is that I know what happend today and It's not the first time something like this has happend or something has been said. It's sad because I honestly can't prove anything, she can always hide behind "procedure". The same "procedure" that gets me pulled over when I drive home from work for no reason or getting my ID ran if I'm out for a walk at night. It's really easy to hide prejudice behind "procedure". I get this kinda stuff once in awhile and I'm use to it and greatfull in some respect because it happens alot more to other minorities. I don't know why it is i expected anything more from a school tho. Anyways I'm just so pissed and feel betrayed that it happend to me in a bookstore at my school of all places. I'll stop here i think im just ranting now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lockjaw Posted June 6, 2003 Share Posted June 6, 2003 Every bookstore I have been in required me to leave my backpack up front. I did not get escorted around though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 Okay, I've gotta admit, her behavior certainly sounds like she was typecasting you. That little comment she made at the end of your visit sure sounds to me like she thought you were scum without knowing you. Knowing that, my advice shifts just a wee bit. Write a strongly worded letter to the manager and the owner, telling them about the incident and that you're pulling your business from them. I think they deserve to know who they have working for them. By the way - when you write that letter, be sure to refer to her as "prejudiced". Your statement will make more of an impact if it's grammatically correct. I'm not saying that to be an ass, I just want them to take you seriously. Although nobody deserves to be prejudged, keep in mind that we all do it, and in a large portion of cases it's correct. It kinda pisses me off that 70 year old lily-white grandmas are getting strip-searched at the airport while jittery foreign Arabs walk through unaccosted because the guards are so afraid of stereotyping or profiling. If 85% of all the deadly terrorist acts on airlines committed in the past decade were perpetrated by Arab muslims, why DON'T we preferentially search them? If an innocent man has the bad fortune to be Arabic, I'm sorry. Getting you luggage searched in major US airports is just something you'll have to put up with. They don't let me donate blood because I'm gay. Does it bother me? Yeah, but if they didn't have a reason, they wouldn't do it. Gay men who couldn't keep their dicks in their pants made things a little bit worse for me. Latinos who steal made things a little worse for you. Arabs who blow up planes make things a little worse for all Arab men. We are all occasional victims of the stereotypes held regarding our particular class. Now, go write that letter and get her racist butt removed from that position. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewire23 Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 hey radtad, it happens to all of us man. I'm with you, I've been there, I know what ya mean. I've gotten pulled over and SEARCHED while walking. Who the heck gets pulled over while walkin??? and RPMs, whose to say all them junkies aren't dressin like ME? I don't bother nobody, I don't think I deserve to be discriminated against based on the way I dress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 "Who's to say?" Society. No, it shouldn't be that way, but Yes, it is. If you want respect, dress respectably. If you choose to dress like a street urchin, expect to be treated like a street urchin. It might not be fair, but that's just the way the human mind works. If that overwhelms you, remember that your dog will love you no matter HOW you dress. Dogs are truly non-judgemental, which probably accounts for their popularity. Scott Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest livewire23 Posted June 7, 2003 Share Posted June 7, 2003 sweet, I'll have to keep that in mind. Somebody remind me to buy a dog if I want to continue looking like a hoodlum. I honestly don't mind too much if everyone immedietly assumes Im some good for nothin punk. its really not so bad. in this town it helps keep people from messin with ya, and Im a smart kid, I can still impress people if need be. And its all the more shocking when you look really good for nothin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPMS Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Agreed! There must be great satisfaction in making folks assume you're nothing but a street punk, then slamming them with Shakespeare, or something. Me, I'm probably too clean cut to have them assume I'm anything but white bread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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