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I think the employee was being stupid. That would be my assumption.
I remember one time, my best friend Mike and i went to The Boiling Crab restaurant in orange county, as soon as he (a white guy) asked for a cracker, the waiter started to smile (in my opinion, for no reasons). The waiter's racial and ethnic identity is not important here. After ten minutes, a waitress came and gave my friend the crab cracker, she asked, "Are you the one who asked for a cracker?" She also smiled (in my opinion, for no reasons.)
I don't think they are racists, I think they are just unprofessional and dumb.
The good thing is that my friend and I can laugh about it. I found this whole thing a little hilarious. (maybe I shouldn't be feeling this way.) He was not offended, but he did say minorities could be just as racists. (I don't disagree.) Do I think the waiter and the waitress were being "racist"? It is hard to say. They have been unprofessional for sure though.
Perhaps in heavily accented English “Peter” sounded like “beaner”.
Why should an employee in a fast paced work environment have to tippy toe around “people of color”?
If recent newcomers are serious about staying here they need to learn to laugh at the little stuff and let slide the things that really don’t matter in the diversity of American society.
Perhaps in heavily accented English “Peter” sounded like “beaner”.
Why should an employee in a fast paced work environment have to tippy toe around “people of color”?
If recent newcomers are serious about staying here they need to learn to laugh at the little stuff and let slide the things that really don’t matter in the diversity of American society.
I gotta agree with this post. I've seen some names totally get butchered at Starbucks before, especially for names that are uncommon. I once had a coworker whos name was "Faz" (short for their full name...Indian origin) and the barista wrote Faz on the cup, but it looked more like a g instead of a z.
I would like to hear that customer say his name (Peter). Peter is not a common name for a Latino, and honestly I could understand if the Starbucks employee misunderstood him because of his heavy Hispanic accent. I also would like to know how busy that Starbucks was at the time of that order.
I watched the tv interview, and the translator's voice covered up what that man's friend was saying in Spanish.
I still don't believe that the Phila. incident was racist. The two men were very obvious that they had no intention of buying anything at Starbucks. And I do think that it's not appropriate to have a business meeting inside a Starbucks cafe without making a purchase.
As to the bathroom thing (mentioned also in the newscast), I believe it correct to have a customers only policy for bathrooms, and that the person who was allowed to use the bathroom before making a purchase was a regular customer that the staff recognized from previous visits.
I've never found any fast food or coffee cafe to be racist. But I understand when they try to keep their real customers happy and them being able to have a seat to sit at or having a clean bathroom to use. And sometimes that means asking non-customers to leave or denying them bathroom privileges.
According to the article I read, the customer had ordered two drinks.
Just to clarify, the barista may hate hispanics, I don't know but several of the articles mention racism. To be clear, Hispanic is not a race.
In these 2 articles the customer talks about ONE CUP OF COFFEE.
Something fishy.
And when was the last time -- except for the Starbucks in Target or at a grocery store -- has the person who took the order been the one to make the coffee and call out your name?
According to the article I read, the customer had ordered two drinks.
Just to clarify, the barista may hate hispanics, I don't know but several of the articles mention racism. To be clear, Hispanic is not a race.
If the barista has a problem with Hispanics... then why haven't they left CA already? Especially being Los Angeles, where they are everywhere.
Anyway, I think it very unlikely that a (probably young) barista at a Starbucks in the Los Angeles area is racist against Hispanics.
And because earbuds are commonly used by young people, they can suffer from hearing loss. I really think that the issue was the barista not being able to understand Peter's name because if their heavy accent and not being able to speak English very well. And they heard Beaner instead of Peter.
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