WWCD?
Now here's something funny that happened to me recently. Not really funny "ha-ha", but funny "hmmmmmm."
I was relating to a co-worker something that happened in a convenience store we both frequent. My co-worker asked which cashier was working. Most of the time it's one of two women. Unfortunately, I know neither of their names. I would guess they're around the same age, or at least close enough to not be able to say the "younger" one or the "older" one." Each are of around the same height and build, so no "short" one or "skinny" one. Both have the same color hair. I don't know either well enough to describe them by personality traits, like the "nice" one. Eventually, I resorted to describing the cashier's hairstyle, for what seemed like an eternity, and my co-worker finally knew who I was talking about.
Of course, there was one way I could have easily described the cashier that could have avoided all the confusion.
One cashier is white, the other black.
And I got the feeling that as uncomfortable as I would have been just pointing that out to my co-worker, she would have been just as uncomfortable to hear it.
So here's Ask Me Later's very first poll:
And feel free to comment on your answer as well.
posted by David Casper @ 11:50 AM
5 comments
5 Comments:
Seriously?
Hell, I would have said "the black one" in a heartbeat.
Just like I expect people to refer to me as the "bald" guy.
Absolutely... without a second thought I would have used skin color to describe the two.
Its sad that when you do that, some people automatically assume you're making some broader statement about that person by referencing their skin color... but I think that says more about the listener than the story teller.
If it's okay for people to describe me as "that blond chick" then it's fine to describe some one using the color of their skin.
There is no doubt that it would be ok. It would be the same as someone describing me as the fat hairy guy.
I have training as an Audio Describer, which describes live theatrical performances to the blind and visually impaired. It's kind of like a person signing for the deaf and hard of hearing, but we're in the booth talking to the audience member through a receiver. In addition to describing the action (he's sneaking up on the woman with a butcher knife raised...) we also describe what the performers and the set look like. Part of that description includes skin color. (She's a dark-skinned woman of medium height and slender build, wearing....)
When did noticing the color of a person's skin become anything other than noticing the color of a person's skin??? It's not a judgement call, it's just a statement of fact.
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