velvet racism

[novapsyche]

I had an appointment this morning. I hadn't been able to do laundry all week, so I was forced to wear interview clothes, which is not entirely inappropriate. I chose a royal blue velveteen suit that netmouse had given me this fall, accented with a variegated blue bracelet she'd also given me this past winter; after fretting, I decided to put on my knee-high black leather boots. Several people complimented me on how nice I looked this morning, including one of the bus drivers as I waited for my line. The one thing that displeased me was that I couldn't find a pair of earrings in time that would have completed the look.

Appointment over, I headed over to Meijer to grab lunch components as well as items for future projects. I prize my boots, but I need to tangibly value them, too, so I bought bootblack (a word I love, tangentially). To add to that, I needed to get better insoles for the damned things, as my feet were starting to ache (despite the ball-of-foot gels I'd bought months before). More Lamasil while I was there (as I've run out of the previous 30 g[!] tube). Food and contest-entry materials would be snagged before I left.

My right boot had suffered a loss of part of its heel (its cap?) over a year ago, so I thought I'd stroll through the shoe section. While there, I saw these awesome winter boots, black patent leather, in my size (!) and marked 1/3 off (not quite my style but cute nonetheless). As I tried them on, the shoe clerk wandered by, smiled and asked if I was finding everything I was looking for. I thanked him for asking, then inquired about the object of my quest. Sadly, Meijer stopped carrying heel caps for boots about two years ago, he informed me, and concurred with my suggestion that I might need to take my footwear to a cobbler. After trying on the shiny new pair (which unfortunately pinched the side of my right foot), I put the box back on the shelf. The clerk had come back and forth once after our initial conversation, but always engaged me verbally and kept a friendly note in his voice.

I remembered my earring desire, which I decided to indulge precisely because as a rule I don't buy jewelry anymore. (It's an expense I just can't afford on a regular basis.) I saw that several sections of the non-precious metal items were on sale, so that heartened me. I went to the clearance tower and tried to find a match for the bracelet.

I wish I had a photo of the bracelet so you could get a clearer understanding of how difficult it would be to match it. There are some solid hues and translucent ones; spheres as well as squares; lapis lazulis alongside sky blues and periwinkles; all interspersed with unique silver accents. The piece was designed by an independent artist, and Meijer was too commercial to have anything of that caliber in my price range. However, I did find something that was not only similar in variety of shape but also differences in color. The bonus was that it was a dangle earring.

Around the time I discovered this earring, the clerk for the department came from behind her counter to busy herself at the same kiosk where I stood, only directly opposite me so that the structure stood between us. I'd picked up the earrings and had them in my hand while I searched for an alternative, because while the colors were similar to the bracelet, the size of the earrings themselves slightly bothered me. I went from kiosk to kiosk; the woman followed in the same amount of space. She went away once, talking to one of her associates who was apparently behind me, then came back to the kiosk area.

I could not tell what exactly she could have been doing--the merchandise was satisfactorily tidy (for clearance-rack stuff). At one point, she came around my person, and I met her gaze and put a smile on my face as a greeting. She never spoke to me.

After another round of this, she walked out of the section proper to the greeting card area. By this time, I had found another pair similar in shape but smaller; also, they were more gray than blue. Had the woman been there, I would have interacted with her more directly at this point, asking her to direct me to a mirror (as there were none around the faux jewelry section). As that was not an option, I went to the counter and discovered one myself. Deciding upon the off-hue but more attractive pair, I returned the other earrings back to the kiosk. By that time, she was back nearby.

I wheeled my basket over to the counter and looked at the display. She returned to the display area but stood away, behind a counter where she was marking inventory or something. I waited for about a full minute before she looked my way and finally inquired whether I needed some help. I said, "Yes, I would." She again had me wait while she wrote something else down, then approached the display with the speed of a government worker. I told her I was looking for cufflinks (unbeknownst to her, the dress shirt I wore was rolled up due to a lack of such and hidden beneath my jacket). "Sorry," she said, "we don't carry those." Didn't inform me as to where I might shop to find some. By that time, I didn't feel like asking her.

Does this strike the average American as profiling? Probably not. But something similar has happened to me so many times over the course of my life that I know it when it occurs.

Comments

[custardfairy.livejournal.com]

Hm...I think I'd feel vaguely stalked had I been in your shoes. Not knowing her intent I can only guess, but it sounds like profiling to me.

There are some people who busy themselves near customers to make themselves available for when they might be needed (I've done this) but she seemed rather unhelpful when you actually did need assistance, so...yeah.

[goodbadgirl.livejournal.com]

It strikes me as fucking profiling and it makes my blood boil.
Damnit. I am not familiar with that store - is it a chain or independently owned? I (and I mean myself) would write them a letter taking them to task for this - especially if you wanted to as well. That is completely inappropriate and that staff needs re-training now. Or - they need to be fired so that some unemployed people who is are suspicious of non-white shoppers can have a paycheck.

I am sorry.

And, of course you know it when it occurs. All those people who would minimize your feelings about this need some re-training too.

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

It sounds like she profiled you as a "browser" rather than a "buyer" based on your behavior. What you describe above is basically window-shopping, and she probably figured you weren't there to purchase anything. When I've been in that mode no salesperson will come near me; it's like they can smell it.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Meijer is a local chain, a competitor first of K-Mart (when K-Mart was king) and now Wal-Mart (of course). It was one of the first stores in this area that I can remember to carry both general merchandise and groceries.

I'm not enraged--I'm just cynical and disappointed. The only things that might have indicated that I wasn't of her class bracket were the facts that (1) I carried a backpack instead of just a purse and (2) I neglected to apply make-up this morning. (Oh, and that I was shopping in the costume jewelry section.) Other than that, I looked the part of solidly middle-class.

Why in the world would someone of my apparent dress and bearing want or need to shoplift costume jewelry? Is that a normal occurrence?

I think of the glamorous jewelry stores in Ann Arbor--Rolex is right downtown--and I just shake my head. A competent thief, I would suppose, goes where the value is, yes? Even Winona Ryder (someone who fits the description of someone who did not need to shoplift) went for the real goods. In the words of my friend Kathie, "C'mon now."

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

What you describe above is basically window-shopping, and she probably figured you weren't there to purchase anything.

Even when I approached the counter?

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

I would read the entire incident differently had she simply engaged me in conversation as the other sales clerk had done.

[goodbadgirl.livejournal.com]

A) Sorry honey. Migraine. My brain kind of blerghed that last line - meant to say: "they need to be fired so some non-racist unemployed people can have a damn job."

I think middle-class and especially white, middle-class women shoplift all the time. Out of boredom or something. But I don't think that is why you were being followed around.

Rat bastards.

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

From what I've seen, if you don't approach the counter pretty quickly, they write you off as a non-buyer; it happens to everyone. There's nothing wrong with browsing, but after a while the counter-jockeys get bored of waiting and I totally understand that.

[pgdudda.livejournal.com]

Having observed the same behavior both when dressed somewhat "punk" (No, really. Yes, a lot changes in 20 years. Kink did have something to do with it...), as well as when I have chosen not to wear hearing aids and "shop while deaf"... yes, it seems to me that she was profiling. Not sure what to do about it, but ... yeah. :-(

re: profiling

[devon.livejournal.com]

re: profiling.

It happened to me when/because I was a kid, and it happened to me when I was wearing my leather jacket as a punk-looking adult just about college age. Nobody spoke to me, but they watched. It pissed me off because giving good customer service (greeting everyone) is a known anti-theft technique. They were too offended (or something) by me even to do that. But yeah, I remember the first time when the old lady at the toy store came over to watch us in the aisle.

I had a hard time when I worked in the record store because we had a lot of theft. One time, two African-American men came in together. One of them acted fine, and the other acted like a shoplifting freak, for real. So I started watching both of them, and the one who was not acting like he was shoplifting got pissed, with good reason. But we are judged as much by our company as by our own actions, so he somehow allowed himself to be profiled because he was hanging with this loser. (Yes, we found CD wrappers right where he had been standing. It was pretty brazen.) So I don't want to do that again, but what do you do?

profiling?

[eroticmiranda.livejournal.com]

I worked for Meijer's about 12 years ago. They have all of the workers go through several series of "spotting" people for various behaviors, etc., when watching for shoplifters. There are so damn many cameras there, even in the dressing rooms and both public and employee bathrooms! Even though that is illegal, it is done in almost every retail store imaginable.

Meijer's actually watches their employees more intently than they do the customers. There is a team of at least 20 per store, per shift, security personnel. Half are on staff the others are mystery shoppers watching staff security and management as well as employees.

Also, bonus money is given to those who actually catch someone shoplifting, but the bonus is not given until after the conviction... and if the shoplifter plea bargains or settles out of court... no conviction, so, no bonus. Yeah. And if you do not work for Meijer's at the time of conviction (like a seasonal worker), you miss out also. Yeah. RRRR.

I hate Meijer's.

I dated a man that I worked with there. I am Caucasian, he was African-American (well, he still is), and we both suffered greatly from the obvious prejudicial attitudes of management and fellow employees, of all ethnicities. We were discrete, meaning we didn't kiss, touch, have sex, etc., at work either while working or off duty and in the store. We actually didn't tell anyone we worked with that we were dating... but you know how things are... one person from work sees ya out and about and then the whole store knows what is going on... or they think they do.

They watched the two of us like we were terrorists when we worked as we worked the same shift... I quit after two months of us dating... he ended up fired two weeks after I quit. yeah. RRRR

I hate that place.

I believe they do much more than profile... and I hate shopping there.

just my two cents... I love your writing style. I hope to read more of your stuff!

em

[kittenkissies.livejournal.com]

Where does one draw the line anymore? Comparatively, did you see them treat other skin colors differently?
This is why I am no longer in retail sales. ALL customers suck, as do most people anyway.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Another point that I thought of after logging off was: if she was totally uninterested in me, why was she following me around?

The jewelry section at Meijer is tiny, nearly microscopic. She could have stayed at the counter the entire time and viewed me.

[cabell.livejournal.com]

I find some of the above attempts to minimize/alternately explain the clerk's behavior annoying but unfortunately not surprising. Yes, of course it sounds like profiling, and the whole reason that it continues to be a widespread phenomenon is its plausible deniability in any single given case. It is exactly the kind of thing that you have to experience a lot in order to start knowing immediately when it's happening, and while that knowledge is no doubt not 100% accurate, it's probably close.

(A flawed analogy: the male partners of my female friends very frequently dislike me. I've learned to recognize it, but when I comment, the friends are often amazed that I've picked up on it when they perceived few clues in our interactions. But I've had a very large number of such interactions, and I know how they tend to go.)

The example of punkness as another watched category is one that I believe slit addressed some time ago in her "Open Letter to White Activists" after Prop 8--she makes a good point that the category should not be used as an analogy for race precisely because of its intentional character, and the way that it opposes the middle-class norms you discuss here. The freedom to be punk, in fact, is largely dependent on the possession of other privileged status characteristics. That said, it may still be one of the few ways in which White people can really learn what it's like to be profiled, even though it's something that is easily "turned off."

[simianpower.livejournal.com]

I have to admit that, not being the type to spend much time at jewelry counters, I have a hard time picturing the region you described and I also don't know the "usual" behavior of jewelry counter employees. So I have to bow out on that question. No idea what's up with that.

[blackwinterbyrd.livejournal.com]

Well, yeah. I would point out that it is much harder to shoplift boots; so he probably didn't have shoplifting on his mind. The jewelry section is forever shoplifted. The clerk should know this; and it is likely because she didn't like the way you looked that she behaved so atrociously.

I mean, if she cares so much about her store that she had to shadow you at two feet away- she could have cared enough to notice when you were ready to buy.

Re: profiling

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested to know exactly what behaviors or mannerisms puts one in the classification of "shoplifting freak". I've never worked in retail, so I have only a vague idea.

we found CD wrappers right where he had been standing. It was pretty brazen.

I take it you didn't have a hired security guard. This is off-topic, but what do you do in that situation? Did the pair actually purchase anything? Did you approach them in the aisle? How exactly did you know the non-shoplifting person was "pissed"?

To come back to the topic, did your previous sense of being profiled inform your surveillance of these two men?

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

Where does one draw the line anymore? Comparatively, did you see them treat other skin colors differently?

I'm not sure what you mean by your first question.

No one else was in the department; this is part of the reason I described the interaction in the shoe department as a means of contrast.

ALL customers suck

*shrug* I guess it depends on your perspective. Nearly all Americans are customers at some point. We all consume. I've not been in retail but I have been in the service sector, and I know how stressful, demeaning, and thankless such a job can be. However, that doesn't mean that the customer sucks. It just means that consumerism, as an economic mechanism, engenders many types of interactions that have the sensation of being false.

In this case, it's not that the business model of service-person <--> customer went awry; it's that cultural baggage carried over into that business environment.

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

I hadn't thought about punk until you and pgdudda pointed it out to me. That's an interesting parallel that I will have to ponder.

The freedom to be punk, in fact, is largely dependent on the possession of other privileged status characteristics.

Very insightful nugget of information. This put everything in perspective for me, actually. (When I was young, I didn't quite understand what punk--specifically punk rock--was supposed to be about. David Bowie's "Let's Dance" didn't really fit into what I [as a nine-year-old] considered mainstream music for that time period. The song fell onto my ears completely out of context. Later, I dated at least one man who enjoyed punk, and I accepted it even though I didn't get it. Now, I think I get it.)

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

it is likely because she didn't like the way you looked that she behaved so atrociously.

Heh. I looked like a business professional. I know those folks have been causing trouble lately, but . . . . ;)

I mean, if she cares so much about her store that she had to shadow you at two feet away- she could have cared enough to notice when you were ready to buy.

That was the point at which I was pretty sure of what was up with this woman. I wish I could convey the tone with which she told me that she was sorry they didn't carry cufflinks.

Re: profiling?

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

They have all of the workers go through several series of "spotting" people for various behaviors, etc., when watching for shoplifters.

From the perspective of management, I can see why they do this. Indeed, it's not the instruction in the awareness of particular behaviors that bothers me--in fact, that seems commonsensical for retail. It's that often (I'd even say more often than not) the people undertaking the surveillance pre-select persons who then might exhibit those behaviors based on sub- or unconscious attitudes toward or opinions about specific subgroups.

There are so damn many cameras there, even in the dressing rooms and both public and employee bathrooms! Even though that is illegal, it is done in almost every retail store imaginable.

I was just in a bathroom at Target, and I, hyperaware to cameras (for example, there are three here at the public library's computer station), did not notice any there. Whenever I enter a dressing room, I look for them, because I don't want to be filmed while I try on clothes. How would the average customer be able to see cameras in these areas?

I think more people should retrain themselves to notice those black half-globes. They are reminders of how our inherent privacy is shrinking.

Meijer's actually watches their employees more intently than they do the customers.

I think that's true of more than just retail. Fast food, for example, focuses their cameras on the front counter & window not to make sure that customer interaction stays in line but rather to keep employees from pocketing money during transactions.

I dated a man that I worked with there. I am Caucasian, he was African-American (well, he still is), and we both suffered greatly from the obvious prejudicial attitudes of management and fellow employees, of all ethnicities.

That's a whole different can of worms. I hope that your experience wasn't universally sour. I'd like to know more about your story, if you feel like sharing. No one had the nerve to ask you directly if you were dating, even if (as you say) s/he spotted you in public?

[novapsyche.livejournal.com]

I responded to cabell about the punk analogy. Thanks for bringing that up and expanding my perspective.

You'll have to fill me in on what it's like to be targeted because you choose to shop sans aid. Why on earth would someone do that?

[kittenkissies.livejournal.com]

I meant that maybe the counter person had a bad day, had a lot of shitty customers, maybe they trust no one. I have encountered and been all those types.
I would think it would be hard to call racial profiling anymore, since the counter person seems to not be able to trust anyone. Makes me wonder why anything is tactile in a department store.

[techno-shaman.livejournal.com]

Im assuming by profiling you mean racial profiling?
Coming from both a retail management and security background, this doesnt sound like a profiling situation to me, to be honest.

When it comes to race and profiling, most retail workers learn that the demographics most likely to shoplift from a profiling perspective are juvenile black or hispanic males, and juvenile white females.
The uniting thing there is "juvenile".
People who appear to be adults are generally afforded less attention (and it progresses the older or more professional/affluent they appear).
Based on your story, it sounds like the fear of racism is more prevalent then the evidence.
Retail workers move all over counters, especially when there is a customer nearby, so that they are present if anything is needed. They dont have to be polite while doing it, and rarely are, especially during the 4th quarter when they are working overtime hours instead of the part time hours they are used to.

Generally speaking, unless they are management, they really dont care if you steal a pair of earrings anyways. There are a million and one tasks on their mind, and you arent the top priority.

Re: profiling

[devon.livejournal.com]

The shoplifter was standing at the far end of the store with his lower body hidden behind a rack. There's nothing on those racks, because they face the back of the store. His hands were down behind the rack, moving. It's really typical of people who unwrap CDs to remove the alarm sticker - we didn't use those big locking holders for the CDs at that time.

We didn't have any security, but the mall had their own people. We also didn't receive any training on how to confront a shoplifter. I gave myself a panic attack one time, confronting two big guys who had been putting CDs under their shirts. I think I didn't stop shaking for 20 minutes after they left, but they did hand over the CDs when I insisted.

The non-shoplifting guy actually confronted me and accused me of watching him because he was Black. Now that I look back, he may have been distracting me from the shoplifter, because I know they work in teams like that sometimes. On the other hand, all he did was move around the store in a way designed to get my attention, like he was trying to hide from me.

Alas, I got profiled in the years following that job, so I didn't have much insight into what I was doing. I tried to focus on behavior - we had plenty of white people I had to confront, as well.