Shannon in Kansas City YT: Shannon's Bible Study IG:@showmeshannon

I was a Black woman in customer service for years. I worked fast food, full service waitress jobs in restaurants, I worked as a buffet server, I was a cocktail server in a casino and I worked several retail jobs. I’ve been a slot host at a casino and I’ve been a part time librarian.

I’ve worked Friday night crab night, the lunch rush, the after church rush, the after the bar closed rush, sales and Black Friday. I’ve worked every hour that is on the dial. I’ve clocked in to work somewhere on EVERY holiday. I’ve worked many weekends in a row. I have walked miles over concrete floors covered in tile and carpet and I’ve literally done a lot of heavy lifting. Sometimes I did it in dress shoes.

I’ve worked very hard. I took my jobs seriously and I did my best because that is who I am as a person. I’m proud of it. I represent myself and God at all times not a company. I made an effort to achieve company objectives, be knowledgeable about product, treat customers and co workers with respect and give great service. I’m a Black woman and this video by a You Tuber named What’s Up w/Sheila really ticked me off.

First off she’s being passive aggressive by making this rant and putting *SOME* at the beginning of her title. She invalidated her own statement and protected herself from criticism by doing that. If you’re going to say something, say it directly and stand behind it.

I think it’s strange that she is so fixated on these grocery store cashiers. I think she was testing those women from the start. If she was upset about the interaction she had with those cashiers she should have contacted the manager, completed a survey or written an e mail to the store about the matter. She could have also just been snarky in return.  That’s fair.

Posting this video to You Tube was not productive aside from gaining views for her video. Perhaps she had that in mind when she noticed that Black cashiers were hired at her local store. One of the easiest ways to gain viewership and build a You Tube audience is by degrading Black women. It’s the foundation for Black You Tube.

The incidents she described seem like they could have been misunderstandings or inexperience on the part of the cashiers. Companies do not invest very much in front line service employee training. They are treated as dispensable from start to finish and are rarely trained very well.

It has been repeated on the internet that customer service jobs are low skilled, expendable labor. If that’s the case why do people expect so much from cashiers? How do you expect people to feel good about their jobs the way people talk about them. I feel like this country expects more from retail and restaurant employees than it does from politicians, police and clergy.

We’re only hearing one side of the story. My years in customer service taught me that people lie. They also exaggerate for the sake of drama and to gain sympathy. They are always the victim that never contribute to the break down of the interaction in any way. I also didn’t hear that the cashier was aggressively rude to the point of deserving the description of uncivil. If they said something blatantly rude and nasty Sheila would have relayed that in her story. She didn’t.

Good customer service is rare in America even though customer service is very important to our economy. Poor customer service does not start on the front line but those employees often take responsibility for bad company policies that only benefit Wall Street. That’s not to say that customer service employees aren’t responsible for their own actions. Customer service workers are responsible for their work but I can’t say that Black women deserve to be singled out. There may be a certain brand of sass that comes from Black women but I’ve dealt with snark, incompetence, laziness, indifference from a wide array of service workers.

I know for a fact that certain people are given more grace than others while in a customer service role. I’ve seen it and experienced it first hand. I have witnessed White cashiers work slowly while they are being trained and customers respond by saying “We have to learn somehow” ha ha. When a Black person or someone with a foreign accent is in the same position I’ve seen customers lose all patience and throw tantrums. They also receive less support from management while learning their job.

I question any social media video with the subject crying. It always seems very contrived. But there might be some truth to this. I never experienced anything close to this magnitude but I have been scapegoated and made the fall guy.

I’ve also witnessed White customer service workers create problems and then a Black associate is directed to step in and help an agitated customer or clean up a mess (literally). I’ve had this happen to me on more than one occasion in my customer service career.

As a Black customer service worker I’ve been left holding the bag and asked to play the hero many times with no recognition or reward. I was often given the least desirable shifts or restaurant sections to work. Co workers and managers were also less likely to help me if I needed support.

Black people are more likely to rely on customer service jobs to support adult responsibilities because of discrimination in the workforce. Black people are often shut out of better paying industries and roles. Sheila and her Black followers that agree with her message are being elitist, delusionally snobby and prejudiced. Black people are not above being prejudiced towards other Black people while favoring those with more European heritage.

I am familiar with the unflattering stereotypes of Black women. I’ve seen it in customer and have experienced it. I’m pretty sure I’ve been the stereotype so I’m not acting like I don’t know what Sheila is talking about. I’m also not excusing any customer service agent for treating customers badly. It’s fair to correct employees for unprofessional behavior. I just think Black women are being singled out unfairly because Black women are an easy target.  I would like to take this opportunity to remind the world that Black women are human.

When I worked in customer service roles I tried to extend myself to customers in a pleasant and professional manner. I can not count how many times I greeted a customer while working in customer service and their reply was something like “Diet Coke”. I said hello and they said “Diet Coke” or “Return” or “Root Beer”. There have been many times I greeted a customer and was completely shut down or blown off by the customer. My offer of good service was rejected many times.  It was disheartening and discouraging.  There were even times I thought the customer was testing me.

Americans and their attitudes play a part in poor customer service in this country. Most Americans don’t appreciate good service and they definitely don’t want to pay for it. If a Black woman gives good customer service it’s rare that she is recognized or rewarded for doing so. Retail in particular is a very racist business.

I’ve had many jobs in customer service in different industries that spanned decades. The experience has been profound and it influences my view of the world, my interactions with others and my politics. It was a valuable learning experience. My years in customer service are as valuable to me as my college experience. Working in customer service is an opportunity to observe humanity and American society.

No one has to be nice to a customer service employee so you see the truth behind a lot of people’s character. That may be even more true as a Black woman working in that occupation because many feel like it’s fair to disrespect Black women.

There is no way to quantify if Black women in retail are worse than employees in other demographics. I speak for myself and I speak from my point of view. I have worked my behind off in service positions and I usually lived up to standards that I set for myself. I set a standard of professionalism and courtesy because that was my job and that’s what I was paid to do.

As a consumer I don’t think good service is very common but I don’t think Black women are exceptionally bad in service roles. I also think we live in a very rude and crass society in general. I took Sheila’s video personally. I worked very hard in customer service positions that I’ve held.

It’s sad for several reasons that a Black woman would post this video especially considering her age and the likely age of the cashiers. If she had a problem with those individuals she should have dealt with it directly as opposed to making this a matter involving Black women in general. Sheila is likely trying to be a rabble rouser and provocateur for views.  Riling up Black women is great for increasing a social media audience.