7-11

I was walking home tonight, after borrowing a wrench from a friend (don’t drop your jewelry down the drain, it’s a hassle).  I was thirsty, and since my house is fresh out of the ever-important, life giving Mountain Dew, I stopped at a 7-11 to get some.

The first thing I noticed as I approached the building was a group of 3 young black men just inside the door.  I recognized one of them (from the HS after school program, or just from the neighborhood, I don’t know), but was just generally suspicious of the way they were hanging around the door.

I went inside, got my stuff, and just tried to keep a general sense of what they were doing while I was there.  As I moved up to the counter, though, I saw that one of their friends had just finished warming up food he’d purchased, and met his friends at the door.  They went outside after that.

I also noticed another guy in the store who kept giving the group suspicious, sideways glances.  How sad, I thought, that these young black men are constantly stereotyped, with people always worrying about “what they’re up to.”  I can’t imagine how it would feel to know that everyone in a store would always view you with suspicion.

And then I remembered, I was giving those looks, too.

~ by Peter on February 9, 2008.