Sunday, September 3, 2017

So you pulled the race card!

Some days it seems as though I walk around the city and angry people just take their inner crap out on me.  I don't walk down the street looking for fights or conflict.  I don't yell at strangers.  Well, that's not true.  I actually tend to yell at strangers daily, but it 98% of the time it is because they almost hit me with their car (STOP signs are not just a suggestion).

Lately I have had women pulling out the race card on me, for literally no reason.  I don't know if it is the political climate or how they feel about themselves and their life, or if they are used to being profiled....whatever the reason behind it, my advice is this:  If you want to pull the race card, someone better be saying or doing something that directly correlates to your race in a negative way.  I will not be that person doing such things.

Years ago I was bartending on South St. in a small bar and restrooms were for customers only.  These 2 underage girls walked in the front door, came up to the bar on a busy Saturday, and asked if we had a bathroom.  I said yes, but the bathrooms are for customers only.  I asked them if they wanted to buy a soda or fries or something. They said, "No! We just want to use the bathroom!"  I again repeated that they were for customers only.  They then got mad and yelled, "You just won't let us use the bathroom because we're black!!"  Totally caught me off guard!  I said, "Nooo..... I won't let you because you're not a customer, it has nothing to do with your race."  They caused a scene and we had to then kick them out.  This was about 10 years ago.

A few months ago I was walking 2 dogs past a bunch of houses on 5th st.  A few of those houses are Section 8 and the people who live there always sit in the car out in front of their house and talk on the phone.  I walk by this woman who I see all the time and she is in her car.... on the phone.... having a very loud conversation.  The one dog peed on the sidewalk next to a tree about 100+ feet from her house.  She LOSES IT on me.  Screaming at me FROM HER CAR (I assume because I was walking 2 big dogs)
"Well that's just great!!  What the fuck? Your dog just peed in front of my house!!  Why don't you let that dog pee at your own house??"
 I examined where we were and screamed back, " We are nowhere NEAR your house! The dog is peeing on a public sidewalk owned by the city! Relax, we are not near your house!"
She kept on yelling and it was just so ridiculous and I was tired and hungry, I just kept yelling back! I probably shouldn't have engaged, but if you're screaming at me, I have a really hard time just putting my head down and walking away.  At least at first.  So she kept on as we were continuing on our walk and the last thing she screamed was, "Walk your fucking dogs on another goddamn street you fucking CRACKER!"  Um.... yeah.  This is basically my neighbor.
Another male neighbor comes out of his door and is looking at me saying, "What's all the screaming? "  I told him that I am apparently a cracker because this woman didn't like that the dog peed on the sidewalk down the street from her house"  He told me he'd go talk to her and calm her down.  Made it about race and tried to offend me - all because a dog peed on the street.

More recently I had an incident happen before 8am!  I was walking a dog in South Philly where there are no trashcans.  I had a bag of poop in my hand and I was coming upon someones trash bag on the curb that was half open and had other poop and trash in it.  I walked over to it and put the bag of dog poop in that big trash bag.  The owner of the trash bag was apparently in her car that was parked right there and started screaming at me!  "Don't you throw that bag of poop in my trash!!! You take that home!  Throw it in your own trash!  Take it out!!"  This was 7:52 a.m.  So I said, "No, this is trash and I am putting it in the trash.  They are coming to pick up the trash the next day!  It's ok"  And there was another guy walking his dog that happened to come upon us.  He heard what was going on and had this fight himself so he stepped in and just told her to leave it alone and have a nice day.  She just would not shut up!!  I was not taking trash out of the trash bag to go find another trash bag - this bag was already out on the street and I was not the first OR the last to use it.  She started following me down the street in her car screaming at me for saying that I wouldn't take my poop bag and the guy was trying to just get her to go.  I realized that I should not engage with the crazy and just kept walking the dog - and she drove up directly next to me and yelled, "YOU RACIST BITCH!"  I looked straight at her and said, "I assure you that this has nothing to do race, I was throwing trash in a trash bag.  Have a nice day."  I then was shaking for stifiling my screaming and had to sit at my clients house and calm down.

Here is the thing - you can get mad at me for stupid things like dogs peeing and using your precious trash bag, but why bring race into it when this all really pertains to a dog?  I am not shouting racial slurs or tagging our property saying racially offensive things.  I AM WALKING A DOG!  It is my job!!! I have been yelled at for years by all races for the dogs peeing "near" someones house and only recently has it come to this.  Is it Trump related?  Just because I am white you think I must have voted for him and feel the same way?  Is it just lashing out because you had a crappy day and that is your go to insult?  I really don't get it - and it's sad.  I mean really sad.  It is also a shame that someone can get that angry before 8am.  I don't know if anyone else has experienced this, but I sincerely hope that these unprovoked accusations stop.  I don't like being called racist for throwing away a bag of poop.

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