What did I do wrong?

Question

I work at a fast food restaurant..when there is bad people that come in..you get the worst...lol. But there was a black trucker that came in. Nice lookin and stuff...seemed nice. I'm not racist...or anything. Because I dont even live around any kind of different races unless they are foster kids...you know.
ANYWAYS...he ordered something...gave me his money..and when i said his change was 15.03 im use to people just reaching out their hand holding out their hand. We were kinda busy in the drive through so i just laid his money on the counter. Helped the other get the food. Well..after he got his order..he gave me this really bad look..i mean really mean look towards me. He was like "why did you lay my money down on the counter for" I thought he was just joking cuz he seemed nice. But he remained his ugly face...he said thank you to the girl that made his icee and just looked at me and walked out. I dont know what i did wrong...cuz i always lay the money if they dont answer.

Answer 1

you know I'm not racist either, I have dated a couple black guys and here's my answer. Many are completely paranoid about EVERYTHING. Don't worry about it, he thought you were afraid to touch him. I hate when black people are like up tight about every little thing you do... it's irritating and why I will not longer date any more black guys because they're cute, they're sweet, but way way way paranoid.

Answer 2

I used to work at a fast food restaurant, and the same exact thing happened to me. I was in a hurry, and laid someone's change on the counter since he was turned and talking to someone else. The man thought I did it because he was black, and really took offense. It seemed extremely paranoid to me, because I would have done the same thing if it were an elderly white lady.

I wondered why he assumed that the reason I laid the money down was because he was black, and if he would have assumed that if I were also black.

Many people of all different races, all around the world, have prejudices. I grew up in the north and have never felt prejudiced against by blacks until I moved south. But I soon came to realize that race isn't the only factor that comes into play here - life experience is very crucial. We probably fail to understand what certain groups of people have gone through in life. Perhaps these people have been subject to prejudice their whole lives, so they felt like assuming that we were prejudice was not a huge conclusion to jump to.

Maybe, just maybe, we both looked too deep into it. Maybe these men just thought we were rude to lay the money down on the counter. It's not exactly top notch customer service ;-).

Answer 3

I hope this helps....
I don't think race has a darn thing to do with the situation. I having worked both sides of the counter and am highly offended when I intentionally hand a cashier my money and they proceed to put my change on the counter as if I'm not standing there.
It's like, if I have enough respect for you not to just toss the money on the counter at you, then you need to do the same for me.
And yes, I have been in situations where, it would be more efficient for you to sit the money down and do whatever else to make the transaction as quick as possible, but if comes to that, then you to to find a place behind the counter (like on top of the cash drawer) to place their money until you are ready to personally hand it to them.

Answer 4

Well to be honest it always pisses me off when people don't put my money back into my hand. I put it in your hand so I expect you to put it back into my hand. It gives me the message that you don't want to touch me like something is wrong. It's also rude and it makes me feel like you don't want to be bothered by me. You have probably upset other people by doing that as well. You made the customer feel unimportant. Next time wait a few more seconds for him to put his hand out to take the change.

What are they suppose to answer you with when you tell them what their change is anyway? Usually when you tell someone what their change is you are handing it to them.
Also I'm not sure what your nationality is but most of the people who have done that to me are other non black minorities. I'm not sure if it's a cultural thing or not.

Answer 5

You did nothing wrong. He might have had people do this to him before because they did not want to touch him (I have seen this done) and just assumed that you were doing that also. Next time I would say "Here is your change." Maybe he was not paying attention.

Answer 6

Maybe next time, just apologize. Some people are edgy, and being a minority can make you even more edgy because there are plenty of people who are racist and treat you like dirt.

Answer 7

Yeah.... some people are like that.... i worked in a bank... and people would yell at me because I asked for their ID when they were getting money out of their account..... some people... i think should not procreate.... hahaha... and that statement is color blind.

Answer 8

don't worry about it, it seems that he just has a pet peeve about that. he might have been angry if you didn't give him enough time to put his hand up, but from what it sounds like and what i've experienced then its kind of hard not to miss the "cues" of receiving your money back.

Answer 9

You did not hing wrong, but I would stay with the customer and place money in hand

Answer 10

it's just common courtesy, and I'm white and probably would've been the same way...2 seconds to hand something back to me...c'mon you're better'n that!