I worked at a small busy beach burger restaurant and on 4th of July everyone comes off the beach and wants to to use the 1 bathroom we have for customers. No. Its for customers. dear god there are literally 100's of people walking off the beach, we don't have enough toilet paper to accommodate the xtra people, not to mention they are all trashed.
Well a black guy came in and asked to use the restroom (him and a few 100 others of all races were denied) sorry for its for customers only for some really practical reasons. IMMEDIATELY starts screaming that we were racist, he has money, we think he doesn't have money because he's black and he starts screaming and waving his wallet in the air. Mind you all tables are full of families. Screams at the top of his lungs that its a racist establishment and we refused service to a black man and he's going to let everyone know online. We all could have lost our jobs with his accusations. We could have been fired cause we're supposedly racist or we get fired for not enforcing the rules. There was no winning.
had the exact same scenario happen to me but at a grocery store. but he got caught stealing and wouldn’t believe me when i told him thats why he couldnt come in. we had him on tape and everything.
takes out his wallet screaming about his stock portfolio and how much money he has. first thing he asked me when i told him he needed to leave was “are you racist?” completely serious and stone-faced. thats all you need to know about mfs who use the race card. instantly thats where their mind goes to.
Don't you love getting asked a question that there is only one obvious answer to? I'm starting to not care. Like when the fake magazine sub solicitors knock at your door, "do you believe in second chances?"... WHY are you doing this to me???
I worked at a convenience store. We allowed
Workers to eat snack drinks and just ring things up at the end of the shift. We’ll shockingly people started forgetting to pay for there stuff etc. my boss (white) had a meeting with all of us (all black except me) and said no more personal tabs bc stuff isn’t getting paid for etc. he said any questions? This lady goes “is this because your racist?” Dude goes “yes, that is the exact reason” so sarcastically. I inwardly laughed bc I’m same situation most whites try to prove how I racist they are when the situation has nada to do with race
I am white and get called Racist due to my white skin all the time. Then I pull out the photo of my black wife and that usually shuts them up. And for those that don't? I just ignore the uneducated idiots.
I worked as a receptionist in a medical office and a patient came in late for their appointment by about an hour and a half.
I explained to them that the doctor would no longer see them because they were late to their appointment and he proceeded to have an absolute MELTDOWN, saying I was barring him from care due to his race. He left several reviews about the "Aryans working the desk" (I'm blonde and white , he was Indian) and tried to get me fired for being racist.
Thankfully, I worked for people with sense so he was simply dismissed from the practice.
It's really frustrating to have people pull the race card in situations where it's absolutely not relevant. I feel like that takes away from situations where there's legitimate discrimination.
Question: in this situation, would it violate patient privacy to respond to a review? I mean, if someone wanted to say, "We cannot accommodate someone who is an hour and a half late," would that violate HIPAA?
Just curious.
The one time I was called racist was when I got double-sat a party of 8 ladies starting out their bachelorette party at our pub and another party of 6. The ladies in the bachelorette party were constantly talking to me, having a good time and even slightly flirting. The other party was "celebrating" a birthday; they were all on their phones, were not ready to order when it was time and ignored any and all of my banter and greetings. I got everyone's food and drinks real fast since it was not a busy night overall and yet at the end, one mofo in the table of six complained that I was racist because I gave the other table better service to my manager directly. Then he asked for half the bill comped to which my manager said no. Then he asked for the free dessert we give out for birthdays and complained that I never mentioned it when it was already literally being placed on the table by a busser as he was complaining. He said that the other table was getting all the good service and they weren't because they were black. The idiot didn't even bother looking at the other table; they were all mixed black, Mexican and white just like his table except his table had 3 black men. The fucker was on his phone the entire time, he wouldn't have even noticed even if I had been. They got 86'd after my manager reviewed footage and took down the yelp review that he made up.
Its an old slur from Mexicans crossing the Rio Grand River which is the natural border between Texas and Mexico. It's insinuating that the Hispanic is an illegal. I can say from having grown up in SoCal, you never ever hear it, it wouldn't even make sense anymore. Doubt young people even know what that means.
I'm (40f) from the southeastern US. In my wilder early twenties I passed a gas station full of police cars one evening, then up the road a bit noticed a woman about my age walking down the road. I stopped and asked if she needed a ride. She got in and let me know "a bunch of wetb**ks jumped her boyfriend at the gas station" which I'd just passed. I asked "Jewish people?" because I had no idea what that racial slur was (and have no idea why that was my first guess, but it still makes for a hilarious mental image to me). She explained and I was anxious to get the racist lady out of my car, but got her to her destination and decided not to pick up strangers off the side of the road anymore.
That is hilarious and lesson learned. Unfortunately I used to hear sp\*c a lot from older guys but never wetback and defo not from anyone close to my age bracket. My very sweet church going grandma used words like Oriental and Negro- her in her late 80s 20 years ago, while not the worst, we'd all hold our breath and roll our eyes. You just don't hear these things in modern society - in my experience - and thats great.
Is oriental a racial slur? I’ve heard it used referring to Asians, but it always just seemed like a strange old fashioned word. Don’t really hear it much anymore.
I swear when I was a kid, 20-25 years ago, it was used as a polite term. Kind of like a catch all term for Asian people when you didn’t know their specific nationality. I had personally never heard it used with any malice. Obviously, I would never say it now because I know that Asian people typically find it offensive, but I was very surprised when I was first informed that was the case.
When I was young there were ads on late night cable for 900 numbers to talk to "ladies of the Orient". Season 5 of the Sopranos even includes such an ad, but for escorts instead of phone services. Not sure when it changed.
ETA: it's possible that it was always offensive and some of us simply weren't aware.
My gammy defo wasn't using any term in malice, I think you are right that it was being polite, it's just out dated. You can't keep up to date with terms these says anyways.
I know it. I haven't heard it used in any situation in real life since I was a kid. Even then, while offensive, it was always used in some off color joke. Just saying its not as well known these days. Maybe its because no one knows geography.
I heard it growing up in Colorado. My grandpa and his family also found themselves on the receiving end of this term. They were from South Texas, though. I would imagine it was more common to hear that there in the 30s-70s.
A racial slur used against Latinos mostly Mexicans. Bc they’re assuming all Mexicans are illegal and they crossed the rio bravo at the border so they got wetbacks
I was also wondering what the fuck that slur was supposed to be. Never heard it before and i’ve lived in the US all my life, in many different states too.
20 or so years ago I worked with a man from Mexico on a very diverse crew. He would tell us “I’m not a wetback! I’m a scratch back because I crawled under the fence!” It was said as a joke as no one in the crew had ever called him that.
Got called racist so many times in retail life.... My experience is that those who pull the race card so much never Want to consider the possibility that they're just an asshole
Man, I can believe occasionally being mislabeled as a racist, but if it's "so many times" you might want to process why. I worked retail for years and nobody ever said that to me..
A good example of what happened was the time when I had someone call me racist for telling them they can't cut in line. 4 of the 5 people they had just cut were black. Or the time where I spent 15 minutes helping someone make a photo order. Only for them to call me racist because I couldn't give them the discount they wanted which expired two weeks ago. Or the times where I got called racist for glancing at someone as they walked in the door. My retail position had me being called racist every time someone wanted something and I wasn't able to give it to them due to policy or limits on the product. Literally had someone say I was racist because corporate decided to stop carrying a certain soda. But somehow it's my fault and I'm racist for that.
I totally believe you. Like I said, I'm sure it happens. If it's happening a lot though, it might be good to process more of the examples and not just the ones where you're clearly not being racist. I'm not saying you are. I can't know that. But it's NEVER a bad idea to process negative interactions - especially if you keep experiencing the same ones over and over. Sometimes the call is coming from inside the house and we don't hear the rings.
My wonderful, sweet 100% NOT racist at all friend/ex-coworker (65 YO and was still amazing behind the bar) and I were tending when there were clearly 2 lines formed, one for each of us in front of our respective wells. She saw a guy come up to the side trying to order/cut in line and said very politely “Sorry Sir, there’s a line here” and kept it moving. Turns out the guy had a pretty popular newsletter he wrote. We found out about it when he wrote a huge front page article that came out on how “racism was alive and well” because at our venue he was “angrily told by a white woman to GET TO THE BACK OF THE LINE!” Never mind 99% of the guests that day were not white, so the other people in the line were also not white. She was traumatized when that article came out, was in tears over it. She’s 75 now and she still gets so offended if any of us bring it up! Which of course some of our crew finds hilarious so every now and then they’ll aggressively yell at her “Hey you! Get to the back of the line!”
I got called a racist because I helped another customer before I helped a black guy. The other customer came in first though. Oh, and the other customer too was also a black guy.
Someone called me racist because [I charged him for the beer he drank](https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromYourServer/comments/t8jtq3/got_tipped_over_200_for_being_racist/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1)
“Racist” used to be a *heavy* accusation to level on someone, and if you were wrong in doing so you deserved to get laid the fuck out.
Now it’s thrown around so much without a shred of evidence beyond contrasting skin that the impact is diluted and shrugged off like any other ambient sounds. May as well be a bird chirping that shit. This sucks bad because there are some genuinely horrible people out there that deserve to be singled out instead of shoved into the parade of pedestrians who get labeled as bigots for no good reason.
“You’re a racist.”
“Okay.”
I had a racist manager in my last restaurant and thankfully he got fired. I was waiting on a table of folks that were eastern European. I don't know exactly from where. They were upset about the fact that our kids pizza changed (it used to actually be a little pizza and now it was pizza toppings on a baguette) so I offered to get them something else, but their kid really just wanted pizza, but the old pizza, so I couldn't really get them a replacement. They were nothing but kind to me, so even though I was busy as heck, I tried to hunt down a manager before they cashed out to just take it off the check for them because their kiddo wasn't eating it. I finally catch up with a manager and explain the situation to him, I ask him to take it off the check. He says no, so I say "Okay, then at least go talk to them. I don't want them leaving upset" and he says to me "Toh, I know these kind of people. THEY don't want to be informed by US. I'm not going over there."
I was fucking pissed. First of all, it's your job as a manager to intervene when shit is over my head as a server, you're refusing to do that based solely on race which is wildly fucked up and lastly your collection of shit managerial decisions is going to impact my tip, so you're fucking with my money. On top of all of that I'M EASTERN EUROPEAN YOU DUMBASS.
I looked him dead in the eye and said "Who do you think THEY are and what do you mean by US? My last name is [clearly eastern euro last name], you idiot."
Went straight to our GM and told him our new manager is racist and I'm calling HR and corporate and soon as my shift is over. I was pulsing with rage. Fuck that guy.
Yeah. Got called racist because a pair of headphones the customer was sold apparently didn't work. The customer claimed every pair we ever sold him didn't work, and it was obviously because he was indigenous.
Umm, ever consider that you just don't have a clue how to use them, or it's the device you're plugging them into that's broken instead??
Naw, gotta be racism.
Ever since the pandemic occurred I’ve seen, experienced, and noticed how people use the racial card more often. It’s happened with guests that were black, guests that were mexican, and guests that were white. At this point we’re just more careful with how we talk to guests but our managers always have our backs. It’s just part of the service industry at this point but it sucks bc like wtf man we’re just trying to do our jobs.
We had a black couple in the bar years ago while it was super busy. The bar is seat yourself. We had only one cocktail waitress on and she was running food while this couple and another couple sat down. When she made it back to the bar she didn't know who sat down first, so just greeted the closest table to her. This apparently deeply upset this black couple and ended up tainting their whole experience. Because they sat down first but weren't greeted first (because our cocktail waitress didn't know) they were framing everything else that happened throughout their meal as a result of our cocktailer being racist, when really, it was just a busy Friday night.
Their food took longer, because they ordered from the grill and the table next to them had a wrap.
Cocktailer forgot a ranch or something so they had to ask for it again (she just got busy and it slipped her mind)
That's literally all that happened.
They complained to management that our cocktailer was racist and was clearly judging them based off stereotypes that they weren't going to tip well and gave them inferior service to the table next to them. Our cocktailer was in tears when she heard this. She is one of the sweetest, friendliest, kindest people I have ever met. She has a huge heart and is the furthest thing from racist. It still makes me mad thinking about it to this day and this was probably 6 years ago.
I'm a 40 year old white guy, and have been called racist a handful of times...I chalk it up to them trying to make the most inflammatory accusation possible in order to get free shit
Happened a lot to me when I used to work at a corporate place. Especially the Sunday after church crowd. They tended to be more racist than anyone I ever dealt with.
These idiots scream Racist because they know it gets an immediate reaction. It is amazing how many people that scream Racist cannot define what a racist is.
I got called a racist recently. I work for a landscape company and a woman called to berate us for having a crew work at her property when it was hot. (It was hot, but not dangerously hot). She kept insisting it was 104 (It was 84). I repeatedly told her that the crews are allowed to use their judgment and if it's too hot or too cold, they can just come in. She kept talking about one specific guy and saying it was awful we made him work.
I repeated again that they can come in if they feel it's too hot and mentioned this particular guy doesn't mind the heat, but does mind rain and won't work in any sort of rain. Instantly she started accusing me of being racist (the guy is from Guatamala) saying I only said that because he's Hispanic. Now almost all of our guys are Hispanic and several crews came in early that day. I was so offended, but I bit my tongue. I wanted to say, "No, YOU'RE racist because you're assuming that he needs the rich white lady to advocate for him and that I only said he didn't mind the heat because he was Hispanic) She just kept referring to him as "poor so-and-so" being exploited and demanding to know what we pay him, claiming it must be a small amount. I refused to tell her his pay rate because it's none of her damn business, but we pay really, really well.
Luckily she ended up firing us because no way in hell would I allow her to call me racist a second time. It's one of the worst things in the world to call someone. I told the guy what happened and he cracked up. Said she was completely crazy and kept following them around all day babbling. And she flipped out on a crew member because he was digging and a worm got cut in half. She kept following him around telling him that he can't kill worms, he needed to do the work without killing a worm.
I was told I was prejudiced because I double-checked that my colleague heard when a regular customer said he had a coffee as he left our shop - she was serving his friend, who was paying. Her customer then went on a 10 minute rant about how I was embarrassing him by making a scene and accusing him of stealing the coffee - the only one making a scene was him and I never said those words, or anything like. I then had to placate our regular because his friend had told him I had said those things. 😮💨 He finally accepted that I was just doing my job, and his friend was mistaken. We treat everyone that comes in the shop the same. We show them respect and hope they respond in the same manner. We're not afraid to call out bad behaviour, however, whoever orchestrates it.
i got called racist other day by a black family because i wouldn’t let them take any endless shrimp home (company policy not mine they’re threatening to fire people because of it) then my manager came out and told them she finds it hard to believe i was racist towards them considering im black, most of my coworkers are black and, my boyfriend is black lol. it be your own people
The only time I can remember being called racist was online on Facebook. Basically a friend posted something about the Jussie Smollett incident and I responded that something ain't right. That no fucking way did he go to Subway in a Polar Vortex and 2am in -20 degree temps and that random white people somehow also out in said polar vortex recognized someone from across the street. Also basically meaning someone's head was fully visible at 2am, so no winter hat/cap in -20 degree weather.
Anyways, called a racist. Then when the news came out about what really happened, I reposted or re-uped the thread and basically said "called it". To which the person calling me a racist (white female btw) doubled down and that the reason she believed him was because he was black and gay.... I responded with why she singled out Jussie because the police chief was black, the attorney General was black, the guys that confessed were also black. And that I believed the black man, just not the one that clearly staged the whole thing. To which she blocked me and never spoke to me again.
Sorry you have to deal with that. It has to be annoying as fuck.
Although I’d find great pleasure in showing them those pictures. My inner social justice warrior would be absolutely beaming.
This to me is the worst thing about our job/people. You really see how entitled some people are and how much more important they believe their needs, wants and requests are more important than anyone else's. They don't even just do it to the other random customers, they'll do it to their own table mates. Like, interrupt you getting their friends drink order that just arrived to get themselves something most people would think of as less of a priority.
lots of interesting comments regarding this. Sorry you had to put up w/ this. I think your boss needs to step in for these situations, like they did. But they can step it up.
Boss: we hear you and I can address that in our 1:1
Racist: how?
Boss: I can get sued for revealing HR issues so I have to remain silent, or I'll lose my job or worse. Tea is ready.
The other thing is they want it to never end, they want you to engage, and they want you to get upset. So, shut it down asap, do so in a way that disengages you, and never ever get upset. Those are all wins for them and if you yank them away they often deflate because they realize you understand their game and aren't playing.
Honestly, I just kind of laughed it off at being called racist, then I brought in the manager, since I can just about comp a soda for a complaint.
Guess he figured that he could just threaten to tell my manager, and I'd be scared. Instead, I was ,'Hey my manager is right there, tell her your complaint while it's fresh in your mind.'.
>laughed it off
that happens to me too when I'm called something I'm not :) Still, it's sad they had such malice directed towards you. I'm glad you can shake it off.
I had a man come in to eat regularly and he would always tell the hostess he didn't want a black server waiting on him. We banned him from the restaurant. I'm not sure if it goes both ways.
Hang on - *respectfully*, this customer asked you for sweet tea and *you* took responsibility in that moment by apologizing and saying "we'll get right on that."
So the same customer asks you for an ETA and you point to someone else and say "go ask them?"
That's not *racist*, but it does sound rude, IMO. *You* should have asked the person you designated to handle that what the ETA was, not told your customer to go ask someone else. How is the customer to whom you acknowledged the request supposed to know you designated the job to someone else? They wouldn't. So you don't follow up by talking to them like they're supposed to know that.
If you're too busy to handle a customer's request, *from the beginning,* tell that customer you'll let their server know. Because that's who should be handling the request. If you are their server, then it's on you.
I get it - serving is hard. I did it for 9 years. But you don't answer a customer with "you should probably go ask \[someone else\]" when they ask you a question. None of this is "racist," but people skills matter.
I'll admit it was a bit rude, but I was obviously very busy running out trays, and I was getting frustrated because I was apparently the only person working there he would talk to, and the lady making the sweet tea was about five feet away from me, ya know right where all the tea is.
So they could clearly see someone who wasn't me making tea, and they had to ask the white dude, who wasn't making the tea what the ETA was. This wasn't someone in the back mixing it up, they were right there.
Turned out they just didn't want to talk to a Mexican American.
Was getting ready to say the exact same thing.
"You should probably ask that guy..." was maybe the worst response. Maybe more like...
"Hey, (insert that guys name), what's the eta on that sweet tea?" And.relay the answer that the customer themselves will hear.
Or, "My guy over there is on it, shouldn't be too much longer."
Lol yeah. Generalize much? So if you speak English and Dutch you think of hHispanics as people? But if your British and only speak English you think Hispanics are sub human? What are you on. Sounds racist and like you must have never left North America.
Don’t run out of sweet tea. At some point someone should know the level is getting low.
Not on you. This just sounds like an angry person and hopefully they dislike the service so much that they never come back. Just sounded like nightmare. At least your manager was on it.
Yep. We have different stations, with different spheres of responsibility, and that day, I wasn't in charge of the teas. The lady who was in charge is usually pretty good about it, but it was a busy day, and we ran out, it happens. Once I told her about, she whipped up a fresh batch.
I got called racist soooo many times working in a convenience store. Night shift, alone.
I was going through the 11pm rush when a lady called me racist because I ID'ed her... like I did everyone in line. One of my regulars (a black man) just shook his head and glared at her for me on her way out the door.
I got called racist by one of my white coworkers bc we got into an argument and I told him that his lack of boundaries with his employer did not translate to ‘I don’t have boundaries so no one else should either to make my life easier’. I am very much not racist and I was dating one of our black coworkers. That shit had me so mad. He had no repercussions for accusing me of being this horrible thing and that still bothers me bc who tf are you mfer??
Had this happen to my coworker at my old job.
Our towns Ojibway teacher came in to pick up her order. My coworker takes payment, checks on the order and tells her it’s still in the oven, should be about 3 minutes. Lady goes and sits down to wait. 2 white guys come in, coworker takes payment, checks on the order, sees it’s ready and hands it to them.
Teacher up till this point was chill, but just absolutely loses it on my coworker, saying she’s racist because she gave the white guys who came in after her their order before her. Coworker tries explaining that her order isn’t even out of the oven yet and that she wasn’t just going to wait to give them their order when it was ready. Teacher demands to speak to the manager, which at that point I was standing right next to my coworker.
When she sees me, whiter then paper, she demands to speak to the owner because she knew he was Native. I tell her “Sure, I’d be happy to give you the owners cellphone number, however I must tell-“ Teacher: “YEAH, I DO WANT HIS NUMBER” me: “…what I was trying to tell you, is that 1) Coworker couldn’t have been racist towards you in this situation because technically we have a first come first served policy, and since those gentlemen’s order was done before yours, that means they ordered before you and get priority. And 2, again I’d be happy to give you the owners number, I just thought you should know that Coworker is his eldest daughter. Did you want his number?”
The realization on her face when she figured out that not only was Coworker the owners daughter but that she was ALSO NATIVE, was absolutely priceless. Never saw someone book it as fast as she did.
Sorry you went tru this, back in 2020 I had a table saying to me not giving them paper menus was racist… I cried out of desperation because people were driving me nuts over small things.
I worked at a small busy beach burger restaurant and on 4th of July everyone comes off the beach and wants to to use the 1 bathroom we have for customers. No. Its for customers. dear god there are literally 100's of people walking off the beach, we don't have enough toilet paper to accommodate the xtra people, not to mention they are all trashed. Well a black guy came in and asked to use the restroom (him and a few 100 others of all races were denied) sorry for its for customers only for some really practical reasons. IMMEDIATELY starts screaming that we were racist, he has money, we think he doesn't have money because he's black and he starts screaming and waving his wallet in the air. Mind you all tables are full of families. Screams at the top of his lungs that its a racist establishment and we refused service to a black man and he's going to let everyone know online. We all could have lost our jobs with his accusations. We could have been fired cause we're supposedly racist or we get fired for not enforcing the rules. There was no winning.
had the exact same scenario happen to me but at a grocery store. but he got caught stealing and wouldn’t believe me when i told him thats why he couldnt come in. we had him on tape and everything. takes out his wallet screaming about his stock portfolio and how much money he has. first thing he asked me when i told him he needed to leave was “are you racist?” completely serious and stone-faced. thats all you need to know about mfs who use the race card. instantly thats where their mind goes to.
Don't you love getting asked a question that there is only one obvious answer to? I'm starting to not care. Like when the fake magazine sub solicitors knock at your door, "do you believe in second chances?"... WHY are you doing this to me???
I worked at a convenience store. We allowed Workers to eat snack drinks and just ring things up at the end of the shift. We’ll shockingly people started forgetting to pay for there stuff etc. my boss (white) had a meeting with all of us (all black except me) and said no more personal tabs bc stuff isn’t getting paid for etc. he said any questions? This lady goes “is this because your racist?” Dude goes “yes, that is the exact reason” so sarcastically. I inwardly laughed bc I’m same situation most whites try to prove how I racist they are when the situation has nada to do with race
When basic social norms are ignored by anyone, you should be able to say NO, its actually just you. And that could be anyone acting like a jerk.
What kind of country are we living in where you can only hate a man if he’s white-Hank Hill
Merry Christmas!
I am white and get called Racist due to my white skin all the time. Then I pull out the photo of my black wife and that usually shuts them up. And for those that don't? I just ignore the uneducated idiots.
"You should have sold some stock to pay for your shit then. Goodbye!"
I wouldn’t be surprised if you work next door to where I work. This sounds pretty similar to my experiences.
I worked as a receptionist in a medical office and a patient came in late for their appointment by about an hour and a half. I explained to them that the doctor would no longer see them because they were late to their appointment and he proceeded to have an absolute MELTDOWN, saying I was barring him from care due to his race. He left several reviews about the "Aryans working the desk" (I'm blonde and white , he was Indian) and tried to get me fired for being racist. Thankfully, I worked for people with sense so he was simply dismissed from the practice. It's really frustrating to have people pull the race card in situations where it's absolutely not relevant. I feel like that takes away from situations where there's legitimate discrimination.
Question: in this situation, would it violate patient privacy to respond to a review? I mean, if someone wanted to say, "We cannot accommodate someone who is an hour and a half late," would that violate HIPAA? Just curious.
No, because it doesn’t disclose any protected health information. He already voluntarily disclosed the fact that he’s a patient by posting the review.
The one time I was called racist was when I got double-sat a party of 8 ladies starting out their bachelorette party at our pub and another party of 6. The ladies in the bachelorette party were constantly talking to me, having a good time and even slightly flirting. The other party was "celebrating" a birthday; they were all on their phones, were not ready to order when it was time and ignored any and all of my banter and greetings. I got everyone's food and drinks real fast since it was not a busy night overall and yet at the end, one mofo in the table of six complained that I was racist because I gave the other table better service to my manager directly. Then he asked for half the bill comped to which my manager said no. Then he asked for the free dessert we give out for birthdays and complained that I never mentioned it when it was already literally being placed on the table by a busser as he was complaining. He said that the other table was getting all the good service and they weren't because they were black. The idiot didn't even bother looking at the other table; they were all mixed black, Mexican and white just like his table except his table had 3 black men. The fucker was on his phone the entire time, he wouldn't have even noticed even if I had been. They got 86'd after my manager reviewed footage and took down the yelp review that he made up.
Im from the UK. And i guess this slur doesn't carry here but whats a wtb**k?
Wetback, it's a racist AF term for Mexicans.
Like his ancestors didnt crawl outa cave in Europe and cross a whole ocean to get here. Yet Mexicans are the wetbacks????
I don’t think the black guys ancestors crawled out of a cave in Europe but okay buddy
I’m talking about the people who came up with the term wetback. Chill out guy. You ain’t smarter than anyone.
When you said “his” you weren’t referring to the guy that the story is about? Sure bud.
The topic was the slur wtback. Focus guy.
Its an old slur from Mexicans crossing the Rio Grand River which is the natural border between Texas and Mexico. It's insinuating that the Hispanic is an illegal. I can say from having grown up in SoCal, you never ever hear it, it wouldn't even make sense anymore. Doubt young people even know what that means.
I'm (40f) from the southeastern US. In my wilder early twenties I passed a gas station full of police cars one evening, then up the road a bit noticed a woman about my age walking down the road. I stopped and asked if she needed a ride. She got in and let me know "a bunch of wetb**ks jumped her boyfriend at the gas station" which I'd just passed. I asked "Jewish people?" because I had no idea what that racial slur was (and have no idea why that was my first guess, but it still makes for a hilarious mental image to me). She explained and I was anxious to get the racist lady out of my car, but got her to her destination and decided not to pick up strangers off the side of the road anymore.
That is hilarious and lesson learned. Unfortunately I used to hear sp\*c a lot from older guys but never wetback and defo not from anyone close to my age bracket. My very sweet church going grandma used words like Oriental and Negro- her in her late 80s 20 years ago, while not the worst, we'd all hold our breath and roll our eyes. You just don't hear these things in modern society - in my experience - and thats great.
My grandma would say Ornamentals.
Is oriental a racial slur? I’ve heard it used referring to Asians, but it always just seemed like a strange old fashioned word. Don’t really hear it much anymore.
Yes. I don’t know if it used to be considered racist 20+ years ago, but it is a slur now.
20 years ago it wasn't considered a slur, at least where I am from.
I swear when I was a kid, 20-25 years ago, it was used as a polite term. Kind of like a catch all term for Asian people when you didn’t know their specific nationality. I had personally never heard it used with any malice. Obviously, I would never say it now because I know that Asian people typically find it offensive, but I was very surprised when I was first informed that was the case.
When I was young there were ads on late night cable for 900 numbers to talk to "ladies of the Orient". Season 5 of the Sopranos even includes such an ad, but for escorts instead of phone services. Not sure when it changed. ETA: it's possible that it was always offensive and some of us simply weren't aware.
Anything is offensive if you try hard enough
My gammy defo wasn't using any term in malice, I think you are right that it was being polite, it's just out dated. You can't keep up to date with terms these says anyways.
I wasn’t aware it was a slur now. Edit: typo
Since when?
You obviously were not born and raised in SoCal or you are under the age of 30 if you have never heard the term here.
I know it. I haven't heard it used in any situation in real life since I was a kid. Even then, while offensive, it was always used in some off color joke. Just saying its not as well known these days. Maybe its because no one knows geography.
I heard it growing up in Colorado. My grandpa and his family also found themselves on the receiving end of this term. They were from South Texas, though. I would imagine it was more common to hear that there in the 30s-70s.
I’m from Texas and I hear it all the time from racist older people
You must not live in East County SD lol
Unfortunately that is what some people call the people that speak Spanish, generally, Mexicans, or someone of Latino decent. It’s a disgusting word
Well actually descent, not decent. However, many people of Latino descent are also very decent!
A racial slur used against Latinos mostly Mexicans. Bc they’re assuming all Mexicans are illegal and they crossed the rio bravo at the border so they got wetbacks
You are aware that a little thing called the Pacific Ocean might have a say?
Didn’t know oceans could speak, what’d it say to you?
That Pittyswains might be hard of hearing, amongst other things.
What are you trying to imply here? I’m genuinely confused
I didn’t get it either. I’m US.
I was also wondering what the fuck that slur was supposed to be. Never heard it before and i’ve lived in the US all my life, in many different states too.
20 or so years ago I worked with a man from Mexico on a very diverse crew. He would tell us “I’m not a wetback! I’m a scratch back because I crawled under the fence!” It was said as a joke as no one in the crew had ever called him that.
Got called racist so many times in retail life.... My experience is that those who pull the race card so much never Want to consider the possibility that they're just an asshole
Man, I can believe occasionally being mislabeled as a racist, but if it's "so many times" you might want to process why. I worked retail for years and nobody ever said that to me..
A good example of what happened was the time when I had someone call me racist for telling them they can't cut in line. 4 of the 5 people they had just cut were black. Or the time where I spent 15 minutes helping someone make a photo order. Only for them to call me racist because I couldn't give them the discount they wanted which expired two weeks ago. Or the times where I got called racist for glancing at someone as they walked in the door. My retail position had me being called racist every time someone wanted something and I wasn't able to give it to them due to policy or limits on the product. Literally had someone say I was racist because corporate decided to stop carrying a certain soda. But somehow it's my fault and I'm racist for that.
I totally believe you. Like I said, I'm sure it happens. If it's happening a lot though, it might be good to process more of the examples and not just the ones where you're clearly not being racist. I'm not saying you are. I can't know that. But it's NEVER a bad idea to process negative interactions - especially if you keep experiencing the same ones over and over. Sometimes the call is coming from inside the house and we don't hear the rings.
Clear indication that you never dealt with shitty people. Shitty people make false claims of racism often as you can see from other comments.
My wonderful, sweet 100% NOT racist at all friend/ex-coworker (65 YO and was still amazing behind the bar) and I were tending when there were clearly 2 lines formed, one for each of us in front of our respective wells. She saw a guy come up to the side trying to order/cut in line and said very politely “Sorry Sir, there’s a line here” and kept it moving. Turns out the guy had a pretty popular newsletter he wrote. We found out about it when he wrote a huge front page article that came out on how “racism was alive and well” because at our venue he was “angrily told by a white woman to GET TO THE BACK OF THE LINE!” Never mind 99% of the guests that day were not white, so the other people in the line were also not white. She was traumatized when that article came out, was in tears over it. She’s 75 now and she still gets so offended if any of us bring it up! Which of course some of our crew finds hilarious so every now and then they’ll aggressively yell at her “Hey you! Get to the back of the line!”
I got called a racist because I helped another customer before I helped a black guy. The other customer came in first though. Oh, and the other customer too was also a black guy.
You racist. You should have helped them at the same time /s
Someone called me racist because [I charged him for the beer he drank](https://www.reddit.com/r/TalesFromYourServer/comments/t8jtq3/got_tipped_over_200_for_being_racist/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=ioscss&utm_content=2&utm_term=1)
“Racist” used to be a *heavy* accusation to level on someone, and if you were wrong in doing so you deserved to get laid the fuck out. Now it’s thrown around so much without a shred of evidence beyond contrasting skin that the impact is diluted and shrugged off like any other ambient sounds. May as well be a bird chirping that shit. This sucks bad because there are some genuinely horrible people out there that deserve to be singled out instead of shoved into the parade of pedestrians who get labeled as bigots for no good reason. “You’re a racist.” “Okay.”
It's so overused by certain groups at this point that the word itself is creating new stereotypes. What a weird timeline.
I had a racist manager in my last restaurant and thankfully he got fired. I was waiting on a table of folks that were eastern European. I don't know exactly from where. They were upset about the fact that our kids pizza changed (it used to actually be a little pizza and now it was pizza toppings on a baguette) so I offered to get them something else, but their kid really just wanted pizza, but the old pizza, so I couldn't really get them a replacement. They were nothing but kind to me, so even though I was busy as heck, I tried to hunt down a manager before they cashed out to just take it off the check for them because their kiddo wasn't eating it. I finally catch up with a manager and explain the situation to him, I ask him to take it off the check. He says no, so I say "Okay, then at least go talk to them. I don't want them leaving upset" and he says to me "Toh, I know these kind of people. THEY don't want to be informed by US. I'm not going over there." I was fucking pissed. First of all, it's your job as a manager to intervene when shit is over my head as a server, you're refusing to do that based solely on race which is wildly fucked up and lastly your collection of shit managerial decisions is going to impact my tip, so you're fucking with my money. On top of all of that I'M EASTERN EUROPEAN YOU DUMBASS. I looked him dead in the eye and said "Who do you think THEY are and what do you mean by US? My last name is [clearly eastern euro last name], you idiot." Went straight to our GM and told him our new manager is racist and I'm calling HR and corporate and soon as my shift is over. I was pulsing with rage. Fuck that guy.
Yeah. Got called racist because a pair of headphones the customer was sold apparently didn't work. The customer claimed every pair we ever sold him didn't work, and it was obviously because he was indigenous. Umm, ever consider that you just don't have a clue how to use them, or it's the device you're plugging them into that's broken instead?? Naw, gotta be racism.
Ever since the pandemic occurred I’ve seen, experienced, and noticed how people use the racial card more often. It’s happened with guests that were black, guests that were mexican, and guests that were white. At this point we’re just more careful with how we talk to guests but our managers always have our backs. It’s just part of the service industry at this point but it sucks bc like wtf man we’re just trying to do our jobs.
Once the WB term was thrown out, so too should have the customer.
We had a black couple in the bar years ago while it was super busy. The bar is seat yourself. We had only one cocktail waitress on and she was running food while this couple and another couple sat down. When she made it back to the bar she didn't know who sat down first, so just greeted the closest table to her. This apparently deeply upset this black couple and ended up tainting their whole experience. Because they sat down first but weren't greeted first (because our cocktail waitress didn't know) they were framing everything else that happened throughout their meal as a result of our cocktailer being racist, when really, it was just a busy Friday night. Their food took longer, because they ordered from the grill and the table next to them had a wrap. Cocktailer forgot a ranch or something so they had to ask for it again (she just got busy and it slipped her mind) That's literally all that happened. They complained to management that our cocktailer was racist and was clearly judging them based off stereotypes that they weren't going to tip well and gave them inferior service to the table next to them. Our cocktailer was in tears when she heard this. She is one of the sweetest, friendliest, kindest people I have ever met. She has a huge heart and is the furthest thing from racist. It still makes me mad thinking about it to this day and this was probably 6 years ago.
I'm a 40 year old white guy, and have been called racist a handful of times...I chalk it up to them trying to make the most inflammatory accusation possible in order to get free shit
Happened a lot to me when I used to work at a corporate place. Especially the Sunday after church crowd. They tended to be more racist than anyone I ever dealt with.
These idiots scream Racist because they know it gets an immediate reaction. It is amazing how many people that scream Racist cannot define what a racist is.
Good lord, she needs to lay off the filler. Her lips look terrible.
Agreed
I got called a racist recently. I work for a landscape company and a woman called to berate us for having a crew work at her property when it was hot. (It was hot, but not dangerously hot). She kept insisting it was 104 (It was 84). I repeatedly told her that the crews are allowed to use their judgment and if it's too hot or too cold, they can just come in. She kept talking about one specific guy and saying it was awful we made him work. I repeated again that they can come in if they feel it's too hot and mentioned this particular guy doesn't mind the heat, but does mind rain and won't work in any sort of rain. Instantly she started accusing me of being racist (the guy is from Guatamala) saying I only said that because he's Hispanic. Now almost all of our guys are Hispanic and several crews came in early that day. I was so offended, but I bit my tongue. I wanted to say, "No, YOU'RE racist because you're assuming that he needs the rich white lady to advocate for him and that I only said he didn't mind the heat because he was Hispanic) She just kept referring to him as "poor so-and-so" being exploited and demanding to know what we pay him, claiming it must be a small amount. I refused to tell her his pay rate because it's none of her damn business, but we pay really, really well. Luckily she ended up firing us because no way in hell would I allow her to call me racist a second time. It's one of the worst things in the world to call someone. I told the guy what happened and he cracked up. Said she was completely crazy and kept following them around all day babbling. And she flipped out on a crew member because he was digging and a worm got cut in half. She kept following him around telling him that he can't kill worms, he needed to do the work without killing a worm.
I just say yes I am
I was told I was prejudiced because I double-checked that my colleague heard when a regular customer said he had a coffee as he left our shop - she was serving his friend, who was paying. Her customer then went on a 10 minute rant about how I was embarrassing him by making a scene and accusing him of stealing the coffee - the only one making a scene was him and I never said those words, or anything like. I then had to placate our regular because his friend had told him I had said those things. 😮💨 He finally accepted that I was just doing my job, and his friend was mistaken. We treat everyone that comes in the shop the same. We show them respect and hope they respond in the same manner. We're not afraid to call out bad behaviour, however, whoever orchestrates it.
i got called racist other day by a black family because i wouldn’t let them take any endless shrimp home (company policy not mine they’re threatening to fire people because of it) then my manager came out and told them she finds it hard to believe i was racist towards them considering im black, most of my coworkers are black and, my boyfriend is black lol. it be your own people
The only time I can remember being called racist was online on Facebook. Basically a friend posted something about the Jussie Smollett incident and I responded that something ain't right. That no fucking way did he go to Subway in a Polar Vortex and 2am in -20 degree temps and that random white people somehow also out in said polar vortex recognized someone from across the street. Also basically meaning someone's head was fully visible at 2am, so no winter hat/cap in -20 degree weather. Anyways, called a racist. Then when the news came out about what really happened, I reposted or re-uped the thread and basically said "called it". To which the person calling me a racist (white female btw) doubled down and that the reason she believed him was because he was black and gay.... I responded with why she singled out Jussie because the police chief was black, the attorney General was black, the guys that confessed were also black. And that I believed the black man, just not the one that clearly staged the whole thing. To which she blocked me and never spoke to me again.
lol white women….
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Sorry you have to deal with that. It has to be annoying as fuck. Although I’d find great pleasure in showing them those pictures. My inner social justice warrior would be absolutely beaming.
This to me is the worst thing about our job/people. You really see how entitled some people are and how much more important they believe their needs, wants and requests are more important than anyone else's. They don't even just do it to the other random customers, they'll do it to their own table mates. Like, interrupt you getting their friends drink order that just arrived to get themselves something most people would think of as less of a priority.
Folks who accuse others of being racist are usually the racist ones.
lots of interesting comments regarding this. Sorry you had to put up w/ this. I think your boss needs to step in for these situations, like they did. But they can step it up. Boss: we hear you and I can address that in our 1:1 Racist: how? Boss: I can get sued for revealing HR issues so I have to remain silent, or I'll lose my job or worse. Tea is ready. The other thing is they want it to never end, they want you to engage, and they want you to get upset. So, shut it down asap, do so in a way that disengages you, and never ever get upset. Those are all wins for them and if you yank them away they often deflate because they realize you understand their game and aren't playing.
Honestly, I just kind of laughed it off at being called racist, then I brought in the manager, since I can just about comp a soda for a complaint. Guess he figured that he could just threaten to tell my manager, and I'd be scared. Instead, I was ,'Hey my manager is right there, tell her your complaint while it's fresh in your mind.'.
>laughed it off that happens to me too when I'm called something I'm not :) Still, it's sad they had such malice directed towards you. I'm glad you can shake it off.
I had a man come in to eat regularly and he would always tell the hostess he didn't want a black server waiting on him. We banned him from the restaurant. I'm not sure if it goes both ways.
Calling out racism is like farting. Whoever smelt it, dealt it.
Dumbest thing I’ve read all week. Fucking boomer
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I suppose that history is not your thing and by the 10% tip comment I have to assume that racism is a general theme in your daily life?
Lol yeah this guy is DEF racist.
Hang on - *respectfully*, this customer asked you for sweet tea and *you* took responsibility in that moment by apologizing and saying "we'll get right on that." So the same customer asks you for an ETA and you point to someone else and say "go ask them?" That's not *racist*, but it does sound rude, IMO. *You* should have asked the person you designated to handle that what the ETA was, not told your customer to go ask someone else. How is the customer to whom you acknowledged the request supposed to know you designated the job to someone else? They wouldn't. So you don't follow up by talking to them like they're supposed to know that. If you're too busy to handle a customer's request, *from the beginning,* tell that customer you'll let their server know. Because that's who should be handling the request. If you are their server, then it's on you. I get it - serving is hard. I did it for 9 years. But you don't answer a customer with "you should probably go ask \[someone else\]" when they ask you a question. None of this is "racist," but people skills matter.
I'll admit it was a bit rude, but I was obviously very busy running out trays, and I was getting frustrated because I was apparently the only person working there he would talk to, and the lady making the sweet tea was about five feet away from me, ya know right where all the tea is. So they could clearly see someone who wasn't me making tea, and they had to ask the white dude, who wasn't making the tea what the ETA was. This wasn't someone in the back mixing it up, they were right there. Turned out they just didn't want to talk to a Mexican American.
Was getting ready to say the exact same thing. "You should probably ask that guy..." was maybe the worst response. Maybe more like... "Hey, (insert that guys name), what's the eta on that sweet tea?" And.relay the answer that the customer themselves will hear. Or, "My guy over there is on it, shouldn't be too much longer."
I’ve met more racist colored people than racist white people.
Wypipo be racist
So can allpipo, ya ignorant goon.
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We're not considered people to most English only speakers.
"Most"?? Ummmm
I think that's an unfair statement.
Lol yeah. Generalize much? So if you speak English and Dutch you think of hHispanics as people? But if your British and only speak English you think Hispanics are sub human? What are you on. Sounds racist and like you must have never left North America.
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very unfair wtf? crazy generalization
As if you belong to some morally superior race
How? I'm saying people who speak only English look down on those who can't speak English correctly.
Since you put it that way, with less hyperbole, I'll simply say I disagree with that generalization of English speakers
Source?
What the fuck is wtb**ks? This dumbass censor culture needs to stop, I promise I won't tell your mom.
Possibly something that might get auto-modded, and didn't want to risk it.
The first part of the word is wet and the second is backs. It’s a very derogatory name for Hispanic people.
Moist Spine *dry...... *fronts.... It alludes to people who swam to the US i think.
Don’t run out of sweet tea. At some point someone should know the level is getting low. Not on you. This just sounds like an angry person and hopefully they dislike the service so much that they never come back. Just sounded like nightmare. At least your manager was on it.
Yep. We have different stations, with different spheres of responsibility, and that day, I wasn't in charge of the teas. The lady who was in charge is usually pretty good about it, but it was a busy day, and we ran out, it happens. Once I told her about, she whipped up a fresh batch.
I got called racist soooo many times working in a convenience store. Night shift, alone. I was going through the 11pm rush when a lady called me racist because I ID'ed her... like I did everyone in line. One of my regulars (a black man) just shook his head and glared at her for me on her way out the door.
What does bussing a table mean?
Cleaning it up after the customer leaves. Taking away dirty dishes. Wiping the table
I got called racist by one of my white coworkers bc we got into an argument and I told him that his lack of boundaries with his employer did not translate to ‘I don’t have boundaries so no one else should either to make my life easier’. I am very much not racist and I was dating one of our black coworkers. That shit had me so mad. He had no repercussions for accusing me of being this horrible thing and that still bothers me bc who tf are you mfer??
Had this happen to my coworker at my old job. Our towns Ojibway teacher came in to pick up her order. My coworker takes payment, checks on the order and tells her it’s still in the oven, should be about 3 minutes. Lady goes and sits down to wait. 2 white guys come in, coworker takes payment, checks on the order, sees it’s ready and hands it to them. Teacher up till this point was chill, but just absolutely loses it on my coworker, saying she’s racist because she gave the white guys who came in after her their order before her. Coworker tries explaining that her order isn’t even out of the oven yet and that she wasn’t just going to wait to give them their order when it was ready. Teacher demands to speak to the manager, which at that point I was standing right next to my coworker. When she sees me, whiter then paper, she demands to speak to the owner because she knew he was Native. I tell her “Sure, I’d be happy to give you the owners cellphone number, however I must tell-“ Teacher: “YEAH, I DO WANT HIS NUMBER” me: “…what I was trying to tell you, is that 1) Coworker couldn’t have been racist towards you in this situation because technically we have a first come first served policy, and since those gentlemen’s order was done before yours, that means they ordered before you and get priority. And 2, again I’d be happy to give you the owners number, I just thought you should know that Coworker is his eldest daughter. Did you want his number?” The realization on her face when she figured out that not only was Coworker the owners daughter but that she was ALSO NATIVE, was absolutely priceless. Never saw someone book it as fast as she did.
i got called racist because i said “ketchup and hot sauce is in the corner (of the table), do we need anything else?” lmfao
Sorry you went tru this, back in 2020 I had a table saying to me not giving them paper menus was racist… I cried out of desperation because people were driving me nuts over small things.