The other day while I was working at the GC I had a guy come up to me and ask about a Les Paul. This was a very good thing, since I'm a commissioned sales whore and a Les Paul costs a lot of money (in this case about $1,300).
Anyway, during my conversation with the guy everything was cool. He was a little rednecky, but whatever. I like motorcycles enough to fake my way through a NASCAR chat with the best of them, and bad teeth never made me too upset.
After ten minutes or so he decided he would buy the guitar, but asked me "So, how much can I Jew you down on this?" and laughed like it was the funniest thing EVER.
Here's where the quandary comes in. I was pretty shocked and appalled not only that anyone still thinks this way but also that anyone thinks you can say something like that out loud to a complete stranger.
And so, I knew I was faced with a decision. I could a) tell him he was an asshole and jeopardize the sale or b) half-smile, get him a good price and sell the guitar while tacitly being party to his racism.
Needless to say, I hate confrontation and chose b, but now I feel bad about it.
I had some doofus tell me a racist joke once, and I told him my dad is black (he isn't). I'm pretty sure he wished he could've died right there. Delicious.
I think that it's a case of a term being so unfortunately commonplace, people don't think to even second-guess it before it leaves their ignorant mouths.
And I'm as guilty as anyone else, I shudder to admit.
Never ceases to be shocking, does it? For advice, you might look to the movie "School Ties" starring Encino Man. It was the same expression that alerted EM to the predjudice of his classmates. I think what you were supposed to do was challenge him to a fight and then stand outside in the rain and scream, "COWARDS!" into the Guitar Center. Rent it. My childhood neighbor, Colin "Spike" Lydon, has a cameo.
"DING DING DING DING DING! Congratulations! You just won our RACIST JACKASS OF THE MONTH SUPER DISCOUNT! In addition to buying this excellent guitar at list price, you are now entitled to suck my hairy balls FOR NO EXTRA CHARGE! Throw in some anti-gay comment, and you be eligible for the Jambone Special - the juiciest Cleveland Steamer in all of Rochester County!"
or:
"Ooh. Let me kick you over to Rodney. He handles all of our racist customers."
or:
"MAN! HI FIVE! I HATE JEWS TOO!"
or:
"Dude, get it straight: Russians are soooo much cheaper than Jews."
or:
"Don't you mean 'How much can I Brendan Clarke you down'?"
Get it?!! Because Brendo likes bargains. What is he, Russian?
