# Uugh now I can't come to your shop anymore, because you're a RACIST! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 13, 2014, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658 "2014-01-13T14:47:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/41 "2014-01-14T23:00:40Z")
> [@Antinor01](#): > > We dealt with racism when shopping for furniture. The store had mostly hispanic staff and customers and we were there for about 20 minutes and completely ignored, even by staffers standing 10 feet from us with nothing else to do. People that came in after us were quickly greeted and offered assistance. The only time they acknowledged our presence was when I pulled out my phone and it looked like I was taking photos. One of the staff ran over and said to stop that and then walked away. On the way out the door I finally got a managers attention and told him we came in ready to spend about $3000 because we needed some things, but that not a penny would be going to them because of how we were treated. Now I don’t care what deals they may have, I’ll never set foot in there again. That’s unfortunate. But to be fair, you probably shouldn’t have dressed like [this](http://www.costumeshopper.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/rtp6113.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/42 "2014-01-14T23:02:07Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > That’s unfortunate. But to be fair, you probably shouldn’t have dressed like [this](http://www.costumeshopper.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/rtp6113.jpg). Heh, good one. To be fair, it might have been homophobia and not racism but who can tell. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/43 "2014-01-15T00:23:18Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Don’t get me started on the Belgians. :eek: Such language! ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/44 "2014-01-15T00:34:08Z")
> [@NoClueBoy](#): > > :eek: Such language! If we turn the thread into a screenplay, then it’ll be ok. ---
**Author:** ![burunduk34](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3ec8ea/32.png) [@burunduk34](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burunduk34)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/45 "2014-01-15T03:26:00Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > And now I can’t go there anymore. Because they’re racists. You got it easy, girl. In my neck of the woods, I have 4 delis. One is owned by an avowed crypto-homophobe, the second one is owned by a concealed misogynist, the third one employs secret tea-baggers and the fourth one has a clear fascist slant. Imagine what I have to go through just to do my daily shopping… ---
**Author:** ![brujaja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4af34b/32.png) [@brujaja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brujaja)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/46 "2014-01-15T07:13:49Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > It wasn’t covert, there was no room for misinterpretation, my BIL doesn’t have a fanciful imagination or a marginal grasp of the language or something.\*\* They didn’t slip and fall into a spare pile of racist slurs. \*\*The truth is, in fact, rather mundane: they’re racists. Ha ha, well said! I’m with you, I can’t abide seeing someone spoken to that way. If the circumstances permit, I occasionally even get the opportunity to intervene. Like the time I saw two 8 or 9 year old male black kids following a grown Asian woman down the street, making insulting gibberish sounds at her, meant to ridicule an Asian language. So I slowed my bike way down, and yelled at them that I knew their mothers, and boy were they gonna be in trouble. It’s an evil but effective tactic – because when you’re a kid, there’s just no way to know – _heck, she **might** know my mother!_ Bwa-ha-ha-haaa. Perhaps the next time you see a group of Moroccan folks out for a bike ride, you could ask them if they know a good bike shop? ---
**Author:** ![Nawth\_Chucka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nawth\_Chucka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nawth_Chucka)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2014, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/47 "2014-01-15T07:16:54Z")
> [@burunduk34](#): > > You got it easy, girl. In my neck of the woods, I have 4 delis. > One is owned by an avowed **crypto-homophobe** … Are you saying Bigfoot owns a deli near you and he’s afraid of gays? **Vinyl Turnip** , no one should dress like that. **Gracer** , as they’ve given you good service above and beyond before, give them a greater courtesy once by going in and telling them what your BIL heard. You may well be walking into a confrontation; you wouldn’t have guessed them to be xenophobic so don’t rely on what you think you know of them. If their response is anything but contrition, off you go to the shop that repairs Moroccans. **Anaamika** ’s absolutely right ya’ll. Look around and pay attention and you’ll see/hear folks trying desperately to pretend an ugly thing didn’t just come out and show itself to be an ugly thing. ---
**Author:** ![moejoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@moejoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/moejoe)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/48 "2014-01-16T02:59:50Z")
I’m wondering why your BIL didn’t speak up right then?“I don’t like the way you just spoke to that customer and I’ll be taking my business elsewhere from now on” would have solved your problem immediately. ---
**Author:** ![turner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/22d042/32.png) [@turner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/turner)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/49 "2014-01-16T03:18:24Z")
Call me racist, but talk about white people problems… ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/50 "2014-01-16T10:37:51Z")
> [@moejoe](#): > > I’m wondering why your BIL didn’t speak up right then?“I don’t like the way you just spoke to that customer and I’ll be taking my business elsewhere from now on” would have solved your problem immediately. He did speak up for her. First he told them not to overreact to a simple misunderstanding and then he told them they were out of line with the racist slurs. He’s not a big scene maker, but he did speak up. It doesn’t solve my problem of not going there and letting them know why. It would’ve been a little weird had he said “and my SIL, you know, the one with the blond hair and the old bottle-green Batavus? - well she’s not coming back either, so there!” ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/51 "2014-01-16T12:01:23Z")
Can someone remind me why misogyny is completely acceptable? ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/52 "2014-01-16T12:32:45Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Can someone remind me why misogyny is completely acceptable? I ask myself this every single day of my life. Every.single.day. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/53 "2014-01-16T14:02:59Z")
Perhaps you can do your small part to help bring about the end of misogyny by refusing to do business with bicycle repair shops that are run by misogynists. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/54 "2014-01-16T14:42:25Z")
> [@bienville](#): > > Perhaps you can do your small part to help bring about the end of misogyny by refusing to do business with bicycle repair shops that are run by misogynists. That would be considerably more difficult, because that particular level of misogyny they exhibit is far more socially acceptable and all bike shops exhibit it. I would certainly not go back if I heard they were shouting at women that “bitches need to stay in the kitchen”, which would be the equivalent. As it stands, there is no point even trying to explain to them why raising their eyebrows when I say that it’s the dynamo that’s the problem is misogynist. There isn’t the remotest chance they would understand. They think of themselves as nice to women, and that is all there is to it. To explain what the problem is would require a series of 20 lectures with a written paper at the end. They certainly do have some level of awareness of their racism not being socially acceptable. Or at least they will, if someone points it out to them. If their misogyny reached the same levels I would be better equipped to confront them. As is, I think feminism is working on changing the discourse and I do what I can. It’s taking longer than we thought. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![swampspruce](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampspruce/32/261_2.png) [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/55 "2014-01-16T14:56:51Z")
Gracer, if you aren’t happy with the service you get at your LBS, why not do the repairs yourself? There are plenty of resources available through forums online and if you’re lucky, adult education classes to give you the practical experience. Mtn biking made me self sufficient respecting doing repairs on the fly, and really it’s not that hard. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/56 "2014-01-16T15:48:06Z")
> [@swampspruce](#): > > Gracer, if you aren’t happy with the service you get at your LBS, why not do the repairs yourself? There are plenty of resources available through forums online and if you’re lucky, adult education classes to give you the practical experience. Mtn biking made me self sufficient respecting doing repairs on the fly, and really it’s not that hard. I can do the simple stuff and even then it’s worth paying someone to do it. It’s not a hobby for me, so it’s just not worth my time. I also have nowhere to do it, and in these temperatures my fingers get too cold outside. Finding a new place is annoying, but not insurmountable. With more than one bicycle per person, the Netherlands has the most bicycles per person in the world. The bike shops match that: they are literally everywhere. They just tend to be run by the kind of men who don’t know that their behaviour is sexist. Mechanics and plumbers are the same, I live over a plumber and they’re still shocked every time I ask to borrow a tool that I would know the name of the tool. The racism, I dunno. I guess you get racist and non-racist bike repairs men. The guy in my street is Moroccan, so presumably not racist, but he won’t do half the things I want done and then takes days for the things he will do. I need to ask some friends where to go, but half of them went to my guy and are now also looking. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2014, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658/57 "2014-01-16T20:56:25Z")
> [@gracer](#): > > What would you guys do if I went in and they apologised or something? I mean, that doesn’t really help her and it probably doesn’t change anything about them. Then again, apologising is quite a big thing to do. Anyone ever done this before? (Since that’s kinda what I started the thread for: experiences that made you not want to patronise a place anymore…) I agree with the others. If they apologize and act embarrassed about the incident, then I’d consider continuing to shop there. If they laugh it off or treat it like it wasn’t a big deal or that she deserved it, then I’d definitely not go there again. > [@Los\_Anconfused](#): > > Generally, because far more people bend over backwards to label something racist when it isn’t. After the billionth instance of “Boy cried wolf” where there was no racism, people start to be more skeptical of racism claims. > > None of this necessarily applies to the particular incident being discussed in this thread. Just to alleged racism incidents in general. Seriously? I’d say that the incidents of “boy cries wolf” racism are so much fewer than times where there is genuine racism. It’s naive to think that racism doesn’t exist today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uugh-now-i-cant-come-to-your-shop-anymore-because-youre-a-racist/678658.md?page=2)