# That time I was a bigot.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-time-i-was-a-bigot/845597>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [December 30, 2019, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-time-i-was-a-bigot/845597 "2019-12-30T16:17:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-time-i-was-a-bigot/845597/21 "2020-01-02T14:44:45Z")

</div>

I know I will get treated noticeably different if I shop in “the poor part of town” dressed in my work clothes vs my usual shabby weekend wear. As I’ve mentioned here many times, I can pass for . . .just about any ethnicity that involves slightly darker skin, apparently. Dressed up, I will be totally ignored at best but more often given the side eye and open hostility. In my weekend civies, I can pass as one of “them”. Little do they know that I shop there because I AM ONE OF “THEM”, economically speaking.  
Everyone, right or wrong, is capable of jumping to conclusions.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\
**Post date:** [January 2, 2020, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-time-i-was-a-bigot/845597/22 "2020-01-02T15:24:00Z")

</div>

> [@Mundane\_Super\_Hero](#):
>
> It’s just a missed commission. Don’t let it live rent-free in your head.

When it was just a missed commission, it didn’t live rent-free in my head. It was a $50 lesson in not making hasty assumptions.

It only started bothering me very recently when I realized that every time I thought about this incident, I failed to see that I acted with prejudice, I only saw the missed opportunity to earn money. I didn’t learn to treat people the right way, I learned that sometimes shabbily dressed people spend money you don’t expect them to have.

I wasn’t wrong to ignore them because they actually had money to spend, I was wrong to ignore them because it’s just not OK to devalue people based on clothing choices. It just took me 25 years to realize it.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-time-i-was-a-bigot/845597/23 "2020-01-03T22:53:11Z")

</div>

What’s ironic is that a lot of us have the nasty inclination to look down on retail employees, like those that work at Radio Shack.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\
**Post date:** [January 3, 2020, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-time-i-was-a-bigot/845597/24 "2020-01-03T23:28:08Z")

</div>

> [@Cheesesteak](#):
>
> I wasn’t wrong to ignore them because they actually had money to spend, I was wrong to ignore them because it’s just not OK to devalue people based on clothing choices. It just took me 25 years to realize it.

Then you should feel good for having grown as a human. Treat yourself to a beer.

And try never to think of The Shack again. That way lies madness.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/that-time-i-was-a-bigot/845597.md?page=1)