Nah, fuck it.
I dont find it rude at all when people think I work somewhere. Although, That time at the strip club…I didnt appreciate that too much! haha
I’m not a snappy dresser either- but basic business casual makes me look like a retail manager.
Besides which, I’m 6’4", so people are ALWAYS asking me to reach stuff on high shelves for them.
I don’t even know what an obscene rationalization is, but I can see this is going nowhere. Not interested in this kind of conversation.
That’s not the “attitude”. It’s “Why do you assume you were mistaken for ‘the help’ because of your color, when people of all colors get mistaken for ‘the help’?”
The common factor seems to be dress plus location and/or behavior, not skin color. Try wearing a blue polo shirt to Best Buy or a red vest to K Mart and see what happens. Or a jacket and tie and stand in front of a place that has valet parking.
If the reason someone is mistaken for an employee because they are dressed similarly to an employee of that store, that *might *be different than someone mistaken because “That guy is [insert race]…it’s doubtful people like him would shop here, so he must work here.”
And having someone ask for your assistance in pulling something off of a high shelf* is different than someone mistaking you for the “help”.
*I don’t see where FLOTUS said she helped someone take something off of a high shelf, pointing to her height as a factor…did I miss that?
No, you didn’t miss that, because the first lady is blaming racism - that she is black - for being asked to help get something from a shelf, rather than her height. The fact that many, many people of all colors and backgrounds have been mistaken for store employees and and other “lowly” workers is evidence that the president and first lady are attributing common, every day occurrences with being victims of racism.
Cite that she’s “blaming racism”?
Hey, a good story is a good story.
The title of the People article is “The Obamas: How We Deal with Our Own Racist Experiences”.
On second thought, I guess they might be talking about experiences where they are/were being racist, making assumptions due to the race of the other people involved.
Many people are forgetting that instances where people are mistaken for employees because of some other factor (height, clothing style) doesn’t necessarily disprove the racism indicated by the Obamas. If one can imagine it has happened at any time to the Obamas, then the rest of your anecdotes does nothing to disprove them.
If people are telling stories because they think the Obamas were mistaken somehow, then have at it, but it seems like the attitude is “This happened to me once and I’m white/tall/dressed like an employee so obviously the Obamas are lying”. The fact that people are unable to sympathize with them and their first reaction seems to be to call their personal stories into question is textbook white privilege
I believe the Obamas and I think it happens that minorities are mistaken for the help a lot more often, and a lot of it due to racism, than people like to realize. That’s a problem that needs correcting; people being tall doesn’t need a correction
I’m quote tall, too, and do get asked to help reach things on the upper shelves. I’m usually happy to do so and people are usually quite nice about it.
The Obamas didn’t write or title the article.
Right.
Mrs Obama is 5’11, that’s very tall for a woman. I am often asked and often volunteer to get something off the top shelf. By no means are they assuming you’re an employee- just that you are tall and look helpful.
I did. I was so dumbstruck and in disbelief than I just accepted the change and said “Thank you”. This woman didnt even say a word the entire time.
Sure. Once at WalMart when I was in my Sunday best (suit and tie), too many times to count at WalMart when I’d made the mistake of wearing khaki pants and a blue shirt.
I don’t think I’m an idiot, but I wouldn’t know a tailored suit if it walked up and bit me on the ass. I have almost zero experience with men’s suits (I think my husband has one - he’s worn it a handful of times in our 14 years together).
You can be a female Vice President at a company, and you’ll still be expected to cover the front desk before any of the guys working there. We’ve come a long way, but we still have a lonnnnnng way to go.
And then you smash it down on the floor and yell, “Scoreboard, bitches!” 
Sure.
One time while browsing at a grocery store, a woman asked me to help her with her groceries. She said she needed help carrying them.
I said sure thinking how far away could her car be parked? She lived 4 blocks away… :smack:
…and for 3 of them I was treated to a detailed break down of everything that was wrong with the Mets. (ftr- that little old lady knew more than the Wilpons, the Paysons, and Half of Brooklyn Combined)
She was so old & so sweet I didn’t have the heart to tell her I wasn’t a fan.
I almost always shop with my little cart to trundle my groceries home, and it always sort of makes me chuckle when they ask me if I need help out with my groceries - well, you can roll my cart home for me, but I don’t think that’s what you were offering. 
I used to get that a lot back in the '80’s and early 1990’s. I remember getting on the phone with a to try to work out a situation regarding a financial misunderstanding and he went off on me “I’m not discussing this with you, put David on the phone right now!!” And I actually had to put my secretary David on the phone and let him explain to the guy that I was his superior and he needed to speak to me.
These days it’s sort of backwards. My current job is in construction and I’ve noticed that if someone walks onto the site they beeline right to me because they figure the only woman there must be in charge.
And once, years ago, I had a friend of a friend who owned a company that supplied audio services to the film industry …mostly porn. The few times that I walked onto a porn set I was mistaken for a performer and I was always a little flattered by the looks of disappointment I got when I told them I wasn’t.