I try not to be a bitch....I know bitches, I've seen bitches in action....I don't want to be one. And I especially don't want to be a "White Bitch" one of those involved in racial one-upsman (or one upswoman). But this weekend....I felt like a White Bitch and I was embarrassed and uncomfortable.
It started with hamburgers. I was rushing around doing errands this weekend and the men folks called me on my cell phone to say they were hungry. Could I stop and bring home some lunch? They wanted burgers. Fine. So I pulled into Sonic....mentally got my order ready and pressed the big red button.
"I need three Number 2 Combo orders."
"Wha ya kwa kdn lske d?"
Okay....what did this woman just say?
I was dealing with a Southern accent, a African-American slang accent and a very cheap intercom.
"Excuse me?"
"Wha ya kdfd kkjkfssd ? wha ldkjk?
"I'm sorry I didn't get that...."
"What kdnf?"
Okay, so I've told her three times I don't understand her....there's a lot of cheap intercom interference...and what do I say?
So I just repeat my order.
Silence. Maybe it will be fine.
She arrives a short time later with a small bag. This is not a good sign ...cause I'm feeding three men who wanted combos...burgers and tots and soda whatever.
She smiles and basically says here's your order.
"This is wrong....they are supposed to be combos.....I ordered combos...and they come with sodas too"
She looks at me ....kinda of like.... really lady? and she says, you didn't say combos. I didn't know what to say....I could barely understand her and I'm sure I sounded just as foreign to her....especially since we didn't even share a Southern accent.
"I said combos" but as soon as the words came out of my mouth they sounded a bit too rough.
I felt stupid....I couldn't tell her the truth....which was I couldn't understand her slang and accent....and I'm sure my uncomfortableness was coming across as bitchy rather than just being uncomfortable.
She turns on heel and goes back in....a guy comes out....looks me over and says "We'll change up your order."
"Fine." I feel like there's a neon arrow pointing at my car along with an accompanying sign...."White Bitch in Here"...."White Bitch in Here".
The young guy comes back with my combos...with my sodas....and a couple of coupons. They are for a 99 cent sundaes.
"Here you go MAM"....I am thinking oh geez I offended her.
"Tell the car hop ...I'm sorry....I'm in a bit of a rush and my order was wrong...didn't mean to sound snippy."
He hands me the coupons and smiles big. "No problem MAM"
Okay I now feel like a complete White Bitch... I wanted to say something to him....but I couldn't because it felt even weirder to say, "I couldn't understand her accent especially over the intercom so that's how this mix up happened" because then I was getting into accents and slang and it seemed like a trip down the rabbit hole.
I took my combos and drove home....but I felt uneasy....strange....as if I wanted to go back and say...hey I'm not one of those of folks....I don't look down my nose at people....but I couldn't and I didn't....and it still feels funny.
