Then, he asked again if I needed anything else. I said, "Oh, no. I was looking for colored forks, but I cannot find any."
Even though he was wearing a mask, I could tell he was stunned by his changed body language and voice. "What are you looking for?" "Colored forks." He repeated something that was muffled by the mask and still looked stunned. His body language had changed. "Colored forks." He still was not responding. "I am looking for colored forks. I cannot use the black ones. I am using them to stick up in my garden so the pointy end keep cats from using the dirt for a bathroom."
His body language changed and he said, "Oh, I see." At that moment I realized he had heard "forks" as "folks."
Can you even imagine? I was properly horrified!
EDIT: I should have said he was black and half the people in the store were black.
EDIT: I should have said he was black and half the people in the store were black.
yes I can imagine as Hubby has told me some that was worse that he has heard and had to clarify
ReplyDeleteChef,
DeleteIn this day and age, there is no excuse.
Oh my-that is funny, if embarrassing. I can't imagine anyone in 2020 using that phrase, but there are still those that do not see the absolute horribleness of it.
ReplyDeleteSAM,
DeleteFrom a distance, it might be funny. I as so horrified that anyone would 1( be hurt or 2) think i would say that. I think it almost sounds like i was looking to do harm.
I should have said how you told the story, was funny but the situation embarrassing.
DeleteI added the fact the young man was black!
DeleteOur first dog (45 to 50 yr ago) was named Blackie. An innocent name in a 99.9% white town. Dog ran across a busy street and I called his name to come back just as one of the only blacks in town was walking past. He looked at me and said 'yes?'. I was so embarrassed.
ReplyDeleteAnn,
DeleteOh my! That would be embarrassing to me, too. Thanks for that story. I will never name a dog "Blackie."
Naming a dog Blackie is out now...no way would I do that. But at that time and where we lived it was innocent.
DeleteAnn,
DeleteActually, even now, if a child named the black dog "Blackie," it would still be innocent, but not a good idea.
I remember as a teen watching General Hospital and John Stamos's young character was named Blackie, LOL. Gosh that was a long time ago!
DeleteOne,
DeleteI never watched soaps, so i do not remember. Thanks.
There's a classic sketch from The Two Ronnies (both now sadly deceased) where Ronnie B goes into a shop and asks Ronnie C if he has any "fork 'andles" and it goes on and on from there. It's really clever. I once congratulated a French colleague I hadn't seen for years on his promotion saying "well I suppose we all get our dues". He looked startled and gave me a strange look and I couldn't think why, until my friend leaned over and said "you do know he's Jewish don't you"!
ReplyDeleteTreaders,
DeleteOh, the Jewish one was bad.
That is funny, I can't imagine what was going through his mind.
ReplyDeleteKim,
DeleteI was so horrified i could not even apologize to him. I just left the store in a great hurry.
You meant no harm
ReplyDeleteUrspo,
DeleteIf it had not been straightened out, i could have have caused a problem that might have been fatal. I was in a store that half the people were black. If the wrong person heard, i could have died then or later. Besides, i would never want to cause the guy mental distress. He stood stock still when i said that.