Thursday, March 14, 2013

What happened?

Not long ago I met a young black man at work. We'll call him Jim, but that is not his real name. Jim, 19- years-old, had a great, friendly personality. Customers loved him. He worked competently in several areas of the store. Other employees really like him, including young female employees.

He's gone. I decided to try to find out what happened. I asked a black man who is about twice Jim's age. I'll call him George, but that is not his name. George told me he thought that Jim was let go because he was popular with young white female employees.

I asked another man, who I'll call John, not his real name. John, a white man, worked closely with Jim. He told me that he thought Jim was let go because he kept being either late or absent on the weekends, when we are busiest.

I went back to George and told him what John said. He thought about it. He said Jim and he rode the bus together to work, because neither can afford a car. He said the bus does not come out on weekends to where we work. George said he had gotten permission from his supervisor not to work on the weekends, because of the bus situation. Jim's supervisor apparently would not give him that permission.

George still believes it was because Jim was so well liked by young white females. I confronted George, and asked him if he might be transferring onto Jim his own experiences when he was Jim's age. Right away he said, "I'd a been killed." George grew up in Alabama.

I sure hope George is wrong.

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