So I’m act at a Wendy’s near my house and suddenly , I hear the words “black ass” and then the N-bomb. There was no “a” at the end. It was definitely “er.” Then I heard it again. You got to be kidding me, I thought. My mother and I were the only African-Americans in the store. Actually, the only African-American customers. The five person staff was all African-American. I turned around to see a white male in his thirties, matted hair, and disheveled clothing. He didn’t have a cup or a tray near him. He was obviously homeless and mentally unbalanced. Dude, you got a lot more problems than my presence, I thought. The man continued, his words directed at me. He was crazy. Do I get all out of shape? Or do I do what I do when I encounter someone mentally unbalanced on the street? I chose the latter – I ignored him with the intention of telling the manager to kick him out of the store. You are lucky, dude, a lot of people would be kicking your ass right now. Before I completely ignored him, I gave him the eye and damn, I must have looked really angry because the couple behind me fled out the door. In that moment, I decided the man was the problem of the other customers there – I wanted to see how the other people would respond (especially after the Paula Deen incident.) The two Caucasian men near me did what I did – they ignored him. A woman who was with her husband and three sons heard him and turned around aghast. “Do you believe this shit?” She asked her husband. Finally, she said to the homeless man, “Hey, do you see these kids? They don’t need to hear your filth.” The homeless man called her a white whore and dropped the c-bomb on her. Her husband stayed cool as the woman lit into him until the homeless man told her he was going to beat her ass. I told the manager, an African-American woman, the man was harassing her customers. I was curious how the homeless man would react to the African-American manager telling him to get out. I prepared myself to get in a couple of good punches if he hit her. Surprisingly, he meekly left. Maybe it was only African-American men who aggravated him. The man in front of me turned to me and apologized. I told him he didn’t have to – the man was crazy – but I appreciated it. Couldn’t help thinking that what we all experienced in that moment was the legacy of this country’s forefathers. We’re all dealing with shit we didn’t have to on this hot day.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Jun 2013 22:15:42 +0000
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