Yesterday I went to Walgreens to print out some picture cards for Christmas. Thus began my first ignorancist test. I asked the cashier to call someone to the photo counter and waited for that someone to arrive. A couple of minutes later a man who seemed to be the "manager" came out of the back office and asked me if I had been helped. I told him that I was waiting for someone to help me with my photos because I didn't see a place for me to stick my flashdrive to download my pictures. He said he didn't think that it was possible for me to use my flashdrive, and I explained to him that the person I spoke to on the phone earlier from their photo department told me that I could. Here's how the conversation continued:
Manager: Was the person male or female?
Me: Female I believe.
Manager: Young or old?
Me: Silence
Manager: White or Black?
Me: Silence again with raised brows. In my head I was saying, "You've got to be kidding me! Is this fool for real? How the heck am I supposed to know if the person was young, old, black, or white. I did not call via video phone. Apparently there is some code in speech that allows us to know a person's age group or "color" just by hearing their voice, but I'm sorry to say that I am not aware of it.
Manager: Couldn't tell, huh?
Me: Shaking my head no, with the same expression on my face.
Manager: I'll get someone to help you.
He disappeared into the back again. I waited a minute and decided to leave. Mission failed! My dilemma: Do I waste my time on this man who I will probably never see again in my life or do I talk to him about how his line of questioning was inappropriate and really ignorant? I felt like I should be exerting my energy on people who I actually have to interact with regularly. But now I'm thinking, would it really have been a waste of my time? I don't know. It's really not about me.
3 comments:
If at first you don't succeed, try, try again! This was funny!
Don't think of it as failure. Let's call it a missed opportunity. So next time, you'll be more careful to take advantage of ALL your opportunities to bring light and rid the world of some of it's darkness.
Eh--I think it would have been a TOTAL waste of your breath and time. I'm just mad nobody could come out and help you! Sheesh!
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