While working at the ingress door at a wholesale warehouse club, I was checking patrons membership cards as they walked in. Fun fact: one of the data points used to decide how many registers are opened at the front end is the number of membership cards counted per half hour, which is the primary reason one must show their card upon entrance; it’s not just an exclusivity thing.
A couple walked in with a quick flash of their card, and I said “hello” and clicked the handheld counter that I was holding. The person entering behind them began walking past, and I asked to see his membership card. He immediately lost his cool in a way that would today be referred to as a full-on “Kevin” meltdown: he accused me of being racist for asking for the card because I had not asked the people in front of him, who were of a different race than him. When I tried to explain that they had their card out already and therefore I didn’t have to ask them, he would hear none of it. He stormed off into the warehouse threatening to go to management about me.
I proceeded to inform the manager on duty about what had occurred which was good, because a short time later he went to the same duty manager to complain about me. Definitely not my favorite day of work ever.
Fortunately, the duty manager gave the man an education about How To Shop™ at this establishment and the assurance that I had not, in fact, been targeting him because of his race.
All turned out okay in the end: after receiving this information and having calmed down a bit, the man was rather chagrined, and actually came back and apologized to me.
