Musings from a waitress of two years

            Things overheard as a waitress (daily), in case there’s any confusion about whether or not rich white people from Collierville and Arlington are trash.

            “Who’s your server friend back there? She’s really pretty for a black girl.” I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard the statement “pretty for a black girl” come out of an old, rich, white man’s mouth. I still haven’t cracked the code on how to deal with this statement (feel free to use one of your four comments to leave me good suggestions), the only thing I can do is tell them that their ignorance won’t be tolerated if I’m to be their server. If they try to argue with me I inform them that I will no longer be their server and that I will find someone who is willing to serve them. Which is no one. So they sit there until they feel like leaving or talking to a manager and complaining that they can’t be racist. It doesn’t usually go well for them.

            “I got a table of black people, anyone want to take it for me?” There is a huge stigma against African Americans in the serving business, one that is completely false in my experience. I’ve seen servers at my old job throw childish fits because of having to serve black people. I think that it, in part, has to do with their old southern mentality that white people don’t serve black people. I know it seems like a dated idea, like something that people would have believed decades ago, but you have to understand the context. My old job was actual garbage. It’s a little family owned southern cooking restaurant that prominently displays antiques (including some racist memorabilia). One of the only reasons I stayed after I saw the racist antiques was because a coworker and myself had the goal of trying to convince the owner to take down the literal slave cabin she has on display. I have since quit, but to this day she still has the slave cabin and cotton bundles displayed about the restaurant, even though people have pointed it out in their reviews on Facebook. She will not change her racist mind, so now I’m going to drag her on my MLK Class Blog.

            I guess all of this is to warn against how we often praise Memphis for being very progressive as compared to the rest of Tennessee, but let’s not be so quick to let Memphis and the surrounding areas off the hook. We have to keep it in check and make sure the racists don't think they're safe.

Seriously though, use one of your comments to help me with comebacks for racists, its the highlight of my shift sometimes when I get to kick someone out for being racist.