THE BLACK FACTOR IN A MEGA-STORE

I want to share an incident that happened to me, this year, at a mega movie rental store. A Middle Eastern manager at the store asked me for identification before she would allow me to rent a movie from this particular store, which had just opened at the location I visited. I asked why on earth I would need to show ID to rent a movie and I was told, “Well, this is a new location. So, you’ll only have to show ID for the first visit.” Now, mind you, no one else who’d been on line (all White) had been asked for ID. So, my response was to inform this woman that she hadn’t been asking anyone else for ID, until she got to me. So, we went back and forth. My mother really wanted to rent the DVD, so I showed ID to this manager in order to get the rental. But, I had told this manager, before leaving, “You know, it’s just a movie! It’s not like I’m withdrawing money from a bank.”

Fast forward about two months and I go back to rent movies. Why? Because this mega-store is the closest location to where I live. Every other location is out of the way and I don’t think I should have to drive to Florida for a movie. So, I head back to this mega-store and pick up three DVDs. My mother is with me again. I tell her, “Ma, she’d better not ask me for ID again!” We head to the check-out line. No White customers are asked for ID. I get to this same manager and she proceeds to say that I need to show ID in order to rent a movie. I inform her that I’m not giving her a damn thing! I reminded her that when I was in the store a couple of months prior, she said I only needed to produce ID because it was my first time at the store. So, here was here response:

“Oh, well that’s why I need ID. If you don’t rent from [CHAIN NAME] within two months, you’re automatically deleted from the customer database and you have to be completely reentered again. So, if you give me photo ID, I can just put you back in the database.” After she said that, I was completely silent for a second. And, so was everyone else on line who heard such a ridiculous lie.

I looked Ms. Manager in the eyes and told her, “You’re a liar!” She looked at me with a stupid expression, to match her stupid brain. I said, “Your store has tens of millions of customers. If you deleted everyone who didn’t rent a movie after two months, you’d be spending more time typing in information than renting movies. Also, if I was really deleted from the database; you’d also have to give me another membership application to complete and ask me for a credit card because if I fail to return the movie, it’s converted to a sale after seven days. If I bring the movie back within 30 days, the sales cost is credited back to my account, minus the restocking fee!”

She didn’t know what to say and produced yet another stupid expression that, again, matched her stupid and racist brain. Finally she thought of another lie, “If anyone has ever let you rent a movie after you were inactive for two months, they weren’t doing their jobs. They shouldn’t have let you take out a movie. They were unprofessional. I’m just doing my job.”

I refused to show the manager ID and she refused to rent to me. I left the store. But, stormed back after going about 20 feet. When I reentered the store this same manager was telling a Hispanic man that he couldn’t rent a movie without bringing in two utility bills. He couldn’t believe it. The manager insisted it was the mega-store’s policy and he left the store in disgust, with a young, disappointed child behind him.

I asked the racist manager for the number for the district office and was told, “I’m not giving you a damn thing! If you want the number, look it up yourself.” Yes, the b*tch went there! And, that’s when I lit the store up like the forth of July. Normally, I don’t give a racist what they are looking for (a Negro showing out in public), but this chick had it coming to her.

I quickly found the regional office number. The regional manager I spoke to immediately knew which store manager I was complaining about. He told me that, yes, this manager was a liar—customers are not deleted after two months of an inactive account. I received repeated apologies and was extended store credit for a number of movie rentals.

I was also informed that this manager would be dealt with. I’ve gone back to the store and was told that no one knew where this manager was. I hope she was fired. For a damn movie rental, this woman felt she could ask minority customers for ID, utility bills and, perhaps, DNA. It’s just not that serious. But, to this racist, it was. The Black Factor is everywhere!!