Abby
Oklahoma City, OK
I was working as a hostess at a restaurant a few years ago. We would seat servers/sections based on a rotation chart. Two older black women came in and were taken to the next section in rotation, which happened to be located towards the back of the restaurant. They were immediately angered when they realized I was heading towards that back section and stopped in their tracks demanding to not be put in the back. I said sure, not a problem, and offered a spot in the middle of the restaurant as that was the next section open. This wasn’t acceptable, and they insisted on taking the first seat by the front door, which didn’t have a server yet, which only added to their frustration as we had to find a server to wait on them. This whole time they were mumbling under their breath to one another about me trying to put them in the back. I didn’t put two and two together until a little later when I realized they probably thought I (a young white female) was doing it on purpose, very much like it probably had been when they were young. I immediately had mixed feelings, one being thoroughly offended that they thought I did it because of their race and other being guilt for not thinking ahead that these older black women wouldn’t want to sit towards the back of the restaurant due to past situations. My generation doesn’t tolerate and didn’t learn hate and segregation. That was then, this is now. Please don’t think that just because you happen to get set towards the back of a restaurant it is because the host is being racist. You just happened to walk in at the right time. I apologize for those people who have been hateful in the past, but please, don’t take it out on those us of who weren’t there.
