A setback in race relations
March 27, 2000
Roger Williams
Tonight, I go into a local supermarket to get some cheese and roast beef. I stand in the 10 items or less line directly behind a customer in his late 20s or early 30s talking to a young boy of about 10-12. This customer says hello to me, and I respond with a nod. The customer has a full box of about 20 packages of instant noodles.
So as I am standing there, I hear this customer talking quietly to the young man in a manner in which there were expletives used almost every other word. He spoke with lots of f***, motherf*** and s*** in his conversation to the young man. The young man looked away and at me several times. I also looked away.
When the customer comes up to the front of the line, the checker greets him in a standard manner.
Chec.: Howzit goin?
Cust.: OK.
Ch: Do you want these in a bag or is the box okay?
Cu: I'll take the bag.
About 5 of the boxes fit in a bag, so there are about 4 bags total. When the customer gets the first bag, he starts to tie a knot with the handles of the bag. The checker just puts the boxes into the bags and passes them to the customer. The customer initially speaks quietly to the checker while looking away.
Cu: Tie a knot in these bags.
Ch: What?
Cu: (slightly louder but also looking away) Tie a knot in these bags.
Ch: (try to but not really succeeding) I am not very good at tying knots.
Cu: It's just like tying your shoe.
Ch: I am just not that good at it.
Cu: You know how to wipe your a**, don't you?
Ch: What?
Cu: I said, you know how to wipe you’re a**, don't you?
The checker looks at the man. The checker takes the money to ring up the total.
Cu: You look like you might want to hit me, but that would not be a good idea.
The checker gives the man the money. The checker looks very embarrassed.
Cu: Because if you wanted to hit me, I would not let you do it.
The checker turns around to the register. Another customer and I witness the entire exchange. I try to say some pleasantries about how difficult it is to deal with the public. The guy behind me says he came here before when someone gave this same checker a hard time, but that the checker probably does not remember. The checker says that he will remember this one, because that was not called for. He looks like he begins to calm down.
I have seen this checker for many months and years. He always talks to the customers as he checks the food. Frequently, he wants to talk to me about sports, or some of the food that I am buying. Many of these times he wants to talk more than I do. So I think of him as a nice guy.
The checker and the customer were not of the same race. I would not want to encounter the checker in a different environment if a similar thing happened, since in this environment he stood there silently with the blood rushing to his face.
I heard every word of this exchange and I believe there was no ambiguity as to what transpired.
March 27, 2000
Roger Williams
San Jose, CA