Favorite Childhood Quote
"Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." Proverbs 22:6
Saturday, August 10, 2013
The Personal Side of Bias, Prejudice and Oppression
I can honestly say in my entire lifetime, I've never experienced bias, prejudice or oppression directly aimed at me. I'm not even sure I can think of a time when I've seen it happen to others. Actually I just thought of an experience I had the other day. I'm not sure if it's considered to be any of these three things, but I think it is because it has to do with being poor or rich. There is a local restaurant in our town and it is owned by two sisters. One of the sisters has 2 girls that I went to school with and I love them, they are super nice and the best waitresses ever. The other owner has 3 girls and to me they all 3 act really snobbish. I used to work at this restaurant in the summer time and I felt the same way. I will only eat there if one of the 2 girls I went to school with is working. So before I left that morning, I text the girl and asked if she was working. If she was working I was gonna eat breakfast there, but if she wasnt I was just going to get a sweet tea. I walked in and she wasnt working so I was just going to order a tea. So I waited a minute. The waitress (the other owners daughter) walked to a table and waited on people. Came back to the desk for a minute then fixed their drinks and another man who had ate just walks up and practically gets right in front of me and she walks up and helps him!!!!! I was SO MAD! For one, that he just got in front of me and for 2 when I was standing there it's like she didn't even notice me! I ALMOST walked out!!! I was fuming... I started getting tears in my eyes and I thought "Shanda suck it up!" Finally she looked at me and said "do you need to order some food?" I said no i just need a sweet tea. The entire time she barely looked at me. It's like she thinks she was too good to talk to me! And this was the exact reason why I wasn't eating breakfast there unless my friend was working! They've had complaints on this before, but that's the first time it has happened to me that bad. My dad is a jokester and I've been there with my parents several times and it seems like everytime we go in there my dad cracks a joke to one of them girls and they don't even laugh, they are just so not nice! Even if I go to a restaraunt where I don't know the waiters, they should be friendly! These girls are not friendly at all. So I do beleive that would be considered oppression. I feel it dimished equity by making me feel like I wasn't important and apprently she didn't need my business. Guess I wasn't dressed good enough or something. But I'm the type of person that honestly I don't care I'm not going to dress any better the next time I go in there because I dress comfortable and that's what I like. Of course then again it did hurt me because I felt like I was ignored. I mean really, I literally stood there for about 5 minutes before she asked me! To change this incident, she could have at least said, I'll be with you in just a minute or at least acknowledged me. Also, I went in there with the attitude that they were rude, maybe if I would've went in with a different attitude, then I wouldn't have even noticed (although I still would've).
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Shanda,
ReplyDeleteIt is extremely sad when others judge and treat others with disrespect and down right rudeness. WE all experience discrimination in some manner whether it's our economic status, our religion, or the color of our skin. Sometimes others are jealous and treat us as less then the dirt under our feet to make themselves feel superior. We must always know that how we handle ourselves and how we represent who we are and how we treat others is the best medicine for discrimination and rudeness. Next time go in and look them straight in the eyes and smile, say good morning and that you would like a sweet tea. Always smile and greet the (Opponent)with sweetness and kindness. I as taught that even though they make us feel bad, make them feel good, be the better person. Prejudice and oppression sometimes goes hand in hand. We treat others bad because they are prejudice of who you are and what you represent in yourself. Melissa