At my little neighborhood grocery store, there is a bagger that's always there - Mr. LaMorris. Mr. LaMorris is an elderly black man, tall, thin, with graying hair, and clothing that is always too big for his skinny frame. But what's so sweet is his mouthful of gold teeth to match his EVER present smile and positive attitude. LOL! He truly is the happiest man you will ever meet!
Whenever I go to the store, he always smiles really big and says, "Hello there young lady! How are you?" You can't help but grin back. And when you say, "Fine, how are you?" He ALWAYS answers, "I'm doing great! Blessed with no stressed!" Such a sweet, happy man. I go to this store even though it's the smallest, dinkiest store in our neighborhood, just to see if Mr. LaMorris is working. He always cheers me, no matter what mood I'm in.
Tonight I'm standing in the check-out line, while a young, black, teenage girl (Kimesha) scans my items. She doesn't greet me, she doesn't smile, she looks rather bored and is moving at a snail's pace. Which is completely unlike the other cashiers here, as most of them know me and always greet me. I haven't seen this girl before, so I figure she must be new.
Mr. LaMorris comes to the counter to bag my groceries and we have the exact same greeting we have every time I go to that store. With that smile and a little teasing voice, he says to the check out girl, "Pronto, pronto, young thing! Andalay! Andalay!" (I know I'm probably spelling that wrong, but he was trying to get the girl to hurry. And on a side note: why are teenagers always in gear one, no matter what time of day it is???)
The check out girl looks at him and with a lot of attitude goes, "You don't need to tell me what to do. You ain't my boss." I was floored. I couldn't believe she said that in front of me. Especially if she's new.
But, he responds with his teasing voice again and says, "Aww Come on...this lady's gotta get home and cook for her family. I'm just tryin' to help her out the door. Andalay! Andalay!"
The girl then says, "English Mister. In THIS COUNTRY we speak English. You think you'd figure that out by now." I'm beyond floored at this point! I'm pissed! This man, who is nothing but kind and sweet is getting completely disrespected by this punk? Uh, huh. I tried to keep quiet with her first smart@$$ comment, but I can't do it this time.
I said to her, "You know what? In this country we also respect our elders. That's a lesson you might want to learn if you're going to succeed in THIS COUNTRY." She turns to look at me and I am glaring at her with every ounce my little pissed off Japanese soul could muster. She stares at me like she can't believe I said anything. And with an ultra sweet voice she goes, "Oh I'm just teasin'." I look at Mr. LaMorris and he's very obviously embarrassed, but very sweetly asked if I needed help carrying my items out. I told him no and that I hope he had a great day! I wish now I'd said yes, so we could talk more.
I'm so sorry. I realize I am probably COMPLETELY out of line for reprimanding that girl, but her comments were really offensive to me. I'm still pissed as I write this! For two reasons, IN THIS COUNTRY we speak many languages. English, Spanish, Italian, Hindi, Japanese, Chinese, etc. That diversity is what makes our country the good ol' US of A. And IN THIS COUNTRY I'd like to think that we respect our elders better than that. I don't have children yet, but I can guaran-freakin-tee you that she will NEVER EVER say those type of things to someone older than her in that tone. If I find out she does, I'm going to wring her little neck and turn her into a gooseneck lamp!
*sigh*
Does it mean I'm old when teenagers annoy the heck out of me this badly??? I think I need a beer or three.
Andi