:: Pedantic Platitudes ::
Greetings! My name is Sam J and I am a student at Harvard University. Perhaps this blog will present a little look into the mundane yet unique events that make up my life.
:: Wednesday, March 26, 2003 ::
Racism sucks.
After working at The Tribune, I went with my dad to get rechargeable batteries because my digital camera uses a lot of battery power. We went to the electronics department of Sears and found the batteries. I also decided to look for an earpiece for my cell phone because I use it so often. Unfortunately, I didn’t know what the model number for my cell phone was, so my dad and I looked at the various selections and tried to find the one that seemed to fit my cell phone. We were there deliberating for over 15 minutes trying to decide which one to buy. There was nobody else in the department except for two employees, who were conversing loudly. Now, I’m not upset about the fact that the two employees stood there staring at us for 15 minutes without offering any assistance whatsoever when it was pretty obvious that we could have used some help. I’m upset about the fact that they laughed to each other said things like, “Look at those two Asians, they can’t even figure it out so they have to take out their cell phones...” and basically derided us for not being able to find what we needed by ourselves.
Needless to say, we were livid. I wouldn’t have thought much if I hadn’t heard their racist remarks, but I heard them loud and clear, so we didn’t buy anything from Sears and instead went next door to Best Buy, where the people were so friendly and helpful. As soon as we stopped at the cell phone section, an employee came up to us and asked if he could help with anything. He was able to find for us the accessory I needed for my cell phone, and I also bought my rechargeable batteries there.
As soon as I got home, I called Sears and made my complaint heard. The manager of the SLO store only apologized but said, “Well, they (the employees in question) have a co-worker that’s Asian.” Yes, but I have a friend who is African-American, but that doesn’t give me permission to use the “n-word.” Whatever. I’m never shopping at Sears again.
On a lighter note, I watched Lilo and Stitch on DVD, and that was a lot of fun. It’s such a cute movie with such a great happy ending. And it’s colorful and set in Hawaii. It would be cool to go to Hawaii sometime in the future.
:: SL 8:57 PM [+] ::
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