Valet parking?

[redpoint5]

Obama perpetuates racism by bringing it up in this way. It annoys me that it's even a topic that gets much attention. Maybe he interpreted his experience of being mistaken for a valet as a racist thing when it could have been a simple misunderstanding that had nothing to do with race.

Last week a woman at Home Depot started asking me questions, and I assume it was because I seemed approachable and was wearing an orange athletic shirt. I'm white and I work in IT.

My experience with valet drivers is that their uniform can consist of anything from jeans and a tee shirt to a full suit. I asked to see ID from the guys wearing jeans and a tee shirt, but didn't have a problem handing my keys over to the ones wearing a suit. I avoid valet whenever possible.

Finally, who cares if someone mistakes your profession? There is nothing shameful about any job that produces a good or service for the benefit of others. If I were a doctor I wouldn't find it offensive in the least if someone mistook me as a janitor. Profession has nothing to do with the intrinsic value that all people have.

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

My experience with valet drivers is that their uniform can consist of anything from jeans and a tee shirt to a full suit. I asked to see ID from the guys wearing jeans and a tee shirt, but didn't have a problem handing my keys over to the ones wearing a suit.

See? You're prejudiced :-)

Reminds me of the character in Donald Westlake's books, who whenever he needed a car, would go hang out in front of a fancy restaurant and wait for someone to hand him their keys.

But there's the other thing that seems really strange to me: the whole idea of letting some random person drive my car. It's not quite in the same league as loaning a stranger my toothbrush, but close.

[UltArc]

When I was in Chinatown in NYC, no one wanted to sell me anything..."you police!" they would say. I wasn't then! Why is every muscular person with good posture and a clean cut hair cut assumed to be police?

Racist! Wait, I didn't bring race into it...let's add "Caucasian American" to it and then we can [make that claim].

[Cobb]

Thats the reason blacks from outside the Us are generally successful. Instead of getting hung up on being discriminated against, they look at their goals and how to obtain them.

Maybe that was the reason for his birth certificate snafu? He left it up in the air long enough to get elected before he settled he was born in a part of the US vs over seas.

Originally Posted by redpoint5

Obama perpetuates racism by bringing it up in this way.

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

See? You're prejudiced :-)

Exactly. Pre-judging things is the key to our survival despite being a hindrance to understanding.

If something is perceived as threatening, regardless of the actual level of threat, the logical thing to do is to avoid and resist that thing. If the thing happens to be a real threat, avoiding/resisting may be the instinct that saves you; and if it turns out the threat was imagined then embarrassment is the only loss.

We discriminate all of the time about every single thing, and that's not necessarily bad. Discrimination goes wrong when we are presented with an opportunity to understand where someone else is coming from while in a safe environment, and still choose to react instead of learn.

I've never been overtly taken advantage of or ripped off by a sharply dressed person (not to say it never happens). Bernie Madoff represents the sharp dressed crook, covertly stealing from others.

[freebeard]

[jamesqf]

Originally Posted by redpoint5

I've never been overtly taken advantage of or ripped off by a sharply dressed person (not to say it never happens).

I've had plenty of them try, though. Car salespeople, insurance agents, stockbrokers... And that's just the low end, retail end.

Indeed, I have to admit to a certain prejudice in the other direction, as my automatic first reaction is to distrust anyone wearing a suit.

[gone-ot]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I've had plenty of them try, though. Car salespeople, insurance agents, stockbrokers... And that's just the low end, retail end.

Indeed, I have to admit to a certain prejudice in the other direction, as my automatic first reaction is to distrust anyone wearing a suit.

...an engrained "survival-of-the-fittest" reaction

[redpoint5]

Originally Posted by jamesqf

I've had plenty of them try, though. Car salespeople, insurance agents, stockbrokers... And that's just the low end, retail end.

Indeed, I have to admit to a certain prejudice in the other direction, as my automatic first reaction is to distrust anyone wearing a suit.

All of your examples are of covert exploitation. Overt exploitation is someone holding a gun to your head as they empty your pockets. Covert exploitation involves the pretense of a relationship while emptying your pockets.

The overtly acting person says I'm taking your money because I have the gun, and the covertly acting person says I'm taking your money because its in your best interest.

I've been robbed by both kinds, and find it equally despicable. I have been told by a plainly dressed woman that she needs a quarter to make a phone call to get home, only to find out that she has lied to me when she goes to the next person and tells the same lie. I have had an insurance agent wearing the finest suit tell me for years that I have the lowest possible cost insurance and the minimum level of auto insurance, only to find out that I was sold double the minimum, at considerable economic strain on my part. No form of thievery is acceptable.

[Cobb]

You dont have to be black to get that treatment. Everyone tries to make it a black/white thing. I use to work on cars and a junkyard wearing dirty coveralls off after work to shop. I couldnt get a salesmans attention at circuit city with the way I was dressed.

I liked my one piece coveralls, however they made me invisible in retail environments.