Al Jarreau
Jarreau
It's my hope that you all have had a wonderful 3-day weekend. I come back to a 5-day gauntlet, where me and my underhanded set of co-workers tackle 200-1000 customers until Saturday. So far, it's been quite testing. Somehow, I've learned that my own people can get real ignorant, real fast. Don't mind me, I knew that already. But never has it been so apparent than working behind a teller window; and the other associates, at times, can worsen the situation.
Case in point: yesterday, upon returning from my fifteen minute break, this "sofa-king queen," thanks Imdateless, comes to my window, pissed off, and she was not afraid to show it. Within seconds of asking how I can assist her, her venomous words began to spit thru the glass:
"I can't believe I waited 30 damn minutes to be helped. I'm late for work, and I thought this gonna be a fuckin' 10 minute wait. And then, people [indirect reference to me] decide to go out, take they mother-fucking time coming back, and don't wanna service you. What kind of shit is that? You supposed to be gettin' us outta here. Y'all can't be doin' that shit..."
About five minutes after her monolouge, because I sure as hell wasn't paying much attention, she finally gave me her ticket for her check deposit. Fifteen seconds later, I was finished with her. She got an enjoy your day, and the bitch was lucky to even get that. Hastily, she leaves the counter.
Forty-five minutes later, she returns to my window, with a quirky-like smile on her face. I bluntly asked her what the matter was, and she replied, "Oh, look. In my haste, I forgot I had to make a deposit to my savings account. Must I wait on that line again?"
Without hesitation, I pointed to the line, indicating that her ass was waiting.
"But I was just here..."
It's unfair to the customers. You must get back on line.
"C'mon, I really need to go, could you please..."
**finger still pointing to the line**
"Sir, please? I'm asking you kindly. I really need to get this done."
Who, me? Mr. "I cost you an extra 20 minutes"?? Mr. "I go out, take my time coming back, and don't want to do anything"? From the person who after her 5 minute tirade on how angry she was spent 15 seconds at my window? You want me to help you?
"I'm sorry. I was angry. I mean, 30 minutes to spend 15 seconds with you is pretty long time. I mean, please?"
Yes. All these things were said. And they were said to prove a point. That she approached me incorrectly, and now needs me to expedite her transaction quickly. Only God could've saved her from going on that line again.
And fortunately for her, He did.
A vibe struck in me that prevented me from calling security. A vibe that I can only say was God's grace, saying let her finish. Take her now. So I did.
"Thanks, again."
**To the customers, now feeling that she's cutting in line** "No, I was here already. I forgot something, and he's finishing up with me. I ain't mean to cut y'all off like that. I wouldn't do that."
**her attention now at me, who finished her transaction** "Sorry I said what I said, but I was late for work, and I got angry. Can you imagine waiting on a line for 30 minutes to get a couple of things done?"
**chuckling** Yeah, I go through it every so often. It's called "Shopping at Costco."
**laughing** "Yeah, I hear you. Look, I really appreciate you doing this. Thank you."
Well, I'm sorry for repeating your words. Thanks and enjoy the rest of your week.
"You too."
And she's not alone.
She joins several other jabronies, who received grace either by myself, my boss, or God. And before you go on, talking about what a wuss I am, consider this. I have been on hour-long lines; and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. Though to me, half an hour is bearable, I can place myself in her shoes, and feel the same way she did. Her only fault is the presentation of her anger; and at times, you have to see beyond the seen to be right. That's my rationalization of it all, anyway.
The Lady In My Life
Stanley Jordan
Magic Touch
Bill Cosby has hit home in several ways over the last several decades in entertainment. And over the last several months, he has made some "controversial" comments that didn't sit well with some people. I never got around to hearing what these comments were, until last night, when several Afro-American political people got together and bashed them. I must admit, his comments did strike a chord, and I'm not talking about the squandering the civil rights movements opportunities, nor the nigga this, nigga that jabs. It was the one that came straight from his heart:
"I can't even talk the way these people talk, 'Why you ain't,' 'Where you is' ... and I blamed the kid until I heard the mother talk. And then I heard the father talk ... Everybody knows it's important to speak English except these knuckleheads. You can't be a doctor with that kind of crap coming out of your mouth.
"For me there is a time ... when we have to turn the mirror around. Because for me it is almost analgesic to talk about what the white man is doing against us. And it keeps a person frozen in their seat, it keeps you frozen in your hole you're sitting in. Dogs, water hoses that tear the bark off trees, Emmett Till... [in reference to the young black dude who was tortured and murdered in Mississippi in 1955 for allegedly whistling at a white woman] And you're going to tell me you're going to drop out of school? You're going to tell me you're going to steal from a store?"
Deep. Real deep.
Off the record, I at times would get on the bus, and sit in the middle left section, just to observe the surroundings. And there's one thing I notice that iffs me to no end: on certain buses, my people would go all the way to the back of the bus, even if the front seats were empty. An elderly black lady, one time, passed a couple of empty spots at the front of the bus, to pass near me, hinting it's my seat she's after. And at that time, I was close to the back door.
A friend didn't believe me early on, so we took a bus ride together, and sat towards the front. The number of black catz that passed us to head to the back was staggering, leaving us surrounded my middle aged, diversified people. After finally taking a good notice, he turns me and says "that's amazing. I don't understand."
I do, I replied. It's the work of the civil rights movements done in vain.
"What?"
Isn't that one of the things we fought for? To sit wherever we wanted? And yet we still cling to the back of the bus...
On the record, I won't even begin to describe the power in his statements, but I will go down in the books by saying it's the truth. I went to Hunter College for five years, and have seen the real world. I go home, the same underlining priniciples. I go to work, or anyplace else for that matter, and I see worse. I see parents who speak like they children. How many times I've heard aks in my tenure at GreenPoint, I don't even want to count, dare I say who I hear saying it most of the time.
I'm not saying this to bash "ebonics," if such a word really exists. I'm saying this to state a point. In our ignorance, we as a people have accepted the negatives in our laziness to correct it; and it has come to the point where it has become the norm. And that's an even worse crime than engaging in the negative.
But katz & kittenz, here's the real kicker. A group of self-righteous black political figures have gotten together recently, and decided to bash Cosby's comments, saying that he has no right to be disrespecting the black parenting community. He doesn't have the right to say that black men should "...stop beating up your women because you can't find a job, because you didn't want to get an education and now you're (earning) minimum wage." I believe it was Charles Barron who said that Cosby's comments were a "cut" on the black community; that he cut us up, and didn't leave a bandage of a solution.
And I planned to vote for Barron next year.
In all their commenting, I realised what was really going on. Not only were Cosby's comments deep and provocative, it apparently was the truth.
Only the truth can hurt, like a cut with a knife. And Cosby, without cure or band-aid, cut his own people.
Perhaps, it's about time.
As a people, we will spend more effort in finding scapegoats than solutions. And, if the condition of the youths are as bad as everyone says it is, than the youths are really in trouble; because there seems to be a lot more finger pointing than laser planning. In all that the Doc said, what we need to do as a people is, without politics, blame, or delay, find a way to restore education and teach the youths right and wrong. Most important, we need to stop beating each other. And beating is not just physical, it's the mental and emotional scars we carry, and at times, attempt to hide. I'll admit, at times I gotta catch myself, before I start hating on these gangsta wannabees and their "every thug needs a lady"
For a 20 year old from Guyana to start of his personal statement by saying that after coming from his home to the US, to see 16 year old mothers, poverty, drugs, and lack of knowledge, that I've desired to better myself through education, you know something's rotten in the United States. I couldn't even do much tweaking in his beginning paragraph, because without much alteration, the point is still there. That we have doomed ourselves. And in short, instead of wasting time responding to the hurt of Dr. Cosby's words, let's respond to the words themselves, take heed to them, and teach the youths some rights. My heart, my heart, my heart...
cries to see the youths...
Teach The Youths
Barrington Levy
Too Experienced