I’m really going to miss Anthony Bourdain.
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Incident at the Toyota dealership, with some of the most blatant in-your-face racism I’ve seen at close range (perhaps I’ve been lucky):
This place has a “bistro” that people wait in while their cars are serviced, with fancy coffee machines, snacks, sofas and chairs and a wait staff that keeps track of everyone and their needs.
They also have a pair of overcomplicated massage chairs, with a little sign on a table asking people not to monopolize them when things are busy. They weren’t that busy, so I took the unoccupied chair.
A few minutes after the woman in the other chair was done, a guy in his twenties, brownish of skin and dark of hair, gets in the chair.
An old white dude – another customer – comes up, glances at me for a fraction of a second and then stares at the other guy demanding he take his shoes off like the sign says. I was still wearing my shoes, as did the woman who was there before, and the staff didn’t say anything about it. But the complaint is directly addressed to the brown guy.
I turn around and see the sign – partially hidden behind the first one – and casually kick my shoes off as soon as it lets go of my calves for a second. (Oh hey, the thing also does foot massage, sort of.) But the other guy ignores him, and I can’t blame him really.
OWD: (loudly) “do you even speak English?”
Other Guy: “I don’t know who you think you’re talking to.”
OWD: “Can you read? The sign says take off your shoes. The manager is going to come over here and kick your ass. I was in Vietnam and I’ve killed people. You need to follow directions. Are you a moron?”
I said something ‘helpful’ like “oh come on” and “you need to not be incredibly insulting” and the like and Other Guy didn’t have a lot to say either. OWD stalked back over to watch golf on the TV, and Other Guy got up to talk to one of the staff. Sure enough, a few minutes later a manager comes out to have a little chat with OWD. Next time I glance up, OWD and the manager aren’t there. I wonder idly if they have a tiny, uncomfortable waiting room for problem customers.
A little while later the staff member asked me if OWD had bothered me and that management was “taking care of it.” I said no, he was just bullying Other Guy. Mr. Badass Killed-Somebody-In-A-War-50-Years-Ago didn’t even look me in the eye.
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That OWD needs to go f___ himself. If it weren’t for OWDs like him, we wouldn’t have had the awful fiasco that was Viet Nam in the first place.
I remember going to a laundromat, years ago, full of white people, many of who smoked right under the “NO SMOKING” sign. We decided there were two sections, one for illiterates and ones for those who could read.
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That’s what gets me about these guys. They bow and scrape before authority like that’s supposed to mean something or benefit anyone, and they also assume that the authority will automatically take their side.
Hmm. One guy didn’t take his shoes off. The other was belligerent to the other customers. Both are committing infractions, yet only one is causing a scene and antagonizing the other paying customers and driving them away. If the manager had to punish one of them, which one would he choose? Gee, that’s a head scratcher. Even a racist manager wouldn’t be fucking stupid enough to side with this asshat.
They all say that. But I suspect if they actually had killed people in Vietnam, they would not brag about it or throw it around idly in conversation.
Not to mention that it sounds more than a little like a threat.
They do downtown. It doesn’t have massage chairs or fancy coffee machines, but it does have a cold metal cot and bread and water.
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No doubt he’s a Trump supporter, and probably has one of those “totally not racist” (cough) “Thin Blue Line” bumper stickers too.
Yeah, that was pretty much the first thought I had. I figured senility or something else was more likely, since it was such a non-sequitur.
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Fuck. Just had a run in with some Comcast people whose truck was blocking the driveway. I asked them to move it and they asked “You need to get out?” Well, I didn’t; it was the principle of the thing. What if I had an emergency?
I said I’d call they police, and they said “Go ahead, call the police.”
I came inside, called the non-emergency number, was put on hold. Meanwhile they moved the truck, so I hung up.
I went out to thank them for moving. I told them that once I came home because I really had to go to bathroom only to find a mail truck blocking the driveway. I guess I made the mistake of apologizing, so one of the guys said “Life’s too short.”
Well, thanks a lot. My life has sucked in many ways.
They were black, I’m white. They probably thought I was one of those wipopo who likes to call cops on POCs. I’m so pissed off, and embarrassed, and I don’t know what else. The memory of that fucking mail truck triggered my anger. I try to be mindful of triggers nowadays, but this one caught me broadsided.
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Fuck. You try to make amends by apologizing and what do you get? A lecture on “life’s too short.” Fuck.
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What’s that even supposed to mean?
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I think it was “Life’s too short to get angry.” I was peeved because these guys didn’t even have the common courtesy of not blocking someone’s driveway, and then asked me, “Oh, are you leaving now?” (Actually they were blocking two driveways, ours, and the house next door – but I think they were working on the cable for the house next door, so there is that).
But I was admittedly angry out of proportion due to being triggered by the previous bad experience.
I also feel petty because it’s a problem lots of people would love to have – i.e., living in a house instead of an apartment, slum, cardboard box, or concentration camp in Texas.
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Given that they were less polite and apologetic than the cop who was blocking me from my driveway (and moved immediately, as soon as he realised), don’t feel too bad about being irritated.
They don’t get to dictate your feelings. If you don’t feel comfortable with having your driveway blocked, that is entirely your right. Don’t let these guys gaslight you into feeling guilty for that. You may be right that they thought you were another white person calling the cops on two innocent people doing their jobs, and that is their right. But that doesn’t mean they get to gaslight you over how you feel.
But you’re taking stock and you’ve recognised that calling the cops wasn’t the best response. That’s a good thing. Don’t beat yourself up too much (says a sixth level master at self-guilt) for a mistake that you acknowledge. Make a note to do better in the future.
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Thank you. Your words mean a lot to me.
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Welp.
As of today, I’ve been relieved of duty as store technician.
Sales are down 40% vs last year. Most of this is due to external forces; thanks to provincial government slashing education budget our biggest customers weren’t able to purchase new machines to previous years’ standards. Some of it could be due to losing our Tech Manager and our Sales Lead last year.
Do the best at what you can control, right? Customer satisfaction is up. Had a 100% (10/10) first quarter, an 83% (10/10) second. At least, that’s my department. The numbers I could control, I did well at.
Tomorrow morning I’ll print the final draft of my #156 Technician’s Guide and hand over the logins to my replacement. Maybe buy him a whiskey. He’ll need it.
There were projects, started and left unfinished. The Printer Bible Monthly was never completed, having received only a single issue (November). The Automagic PC Setup Toolkit only has the one completed module (Adblock).
I wish my replacement the best of luck. As the new store technician they’ll be responsible for completing all tech work, responsible for achieving sales targets, and responsible for managing customer satisfaction.
… there’s no reason to feel bad. It’s just business, right?
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I’m sorry. That sucks.
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Sorry to hear that. If you need any help or moral support, we’re here for you.
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Just had to have an emergency tooth extraction.
I hurt and am miserable, now.
ETA: I needed this like I needed a hole in the head.
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I had to have one of those, with no anesthetic because where it was, they would they’d have had to put me under. (I wish they had.)
They had to break the tooth and pull it out in pieces. It was the most intense pain I have ever felt. I screamed, I cried, I damn near tore the arm off the butcher’s surgeon’s fancy chair. I questioned whether teeth are really worth it, in the scheme of things.
So, yeah. You’ve got sympathy here.
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I am sorry you lost your gig.
I think you are so talented. I’d love to see you get a new job where you are paid like 3 x as much as you were there. Just my opinion.
Big hug.
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Here’s to your next spot being better! (cue why is it so hot and humid ick yuck bleah
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