I had an ‘interaction’ with a customer last week that left a foul taste in my mouth.  She had come in to drop off paperwork and in her brief time in the office, put down three races.  My jaw was literally on the ground. 

I ABHOR racism, homophobia, sexism – insert any other prejudice-ism here ____. You get the point.

She was a total stranger.  We were total strangers to her.  So that fact that she was comfortable using her vile descriptive ‘names’ she had for ‘them’ in front of us in a business environment was quite shocking and I knew, then and there, I did not like this woman.

She came back today – wearing perfume that was SO very cloying and … well, you know that particular ‘scent’ a perfume gives off when it’s expired?  Yeah, that was intermingled as well.

I got to thinking though – me sitting there, judging her and her nauseating perfume – was that any better than her judging others?

If she was a sweet, kind, non-racist person – would her perfume be any less cloying?  (Honestly probably not, it was pretty bad). OK, would I have tolerated her perfume if I hadn’t already decided I didn’t like her?

I really try NOT to hate.  I try not to judge.  I trust until I have a reason not to.  I love until I have a reason not to.

If her opinion came from ignorance, then that’s forgivable, and is it really my business?  She doesn’t need me to forgive her.  She doesn’t need me to like her.

In my opinion.

What she does need to do is watch what she says around me though, because I think that NOT saying something in response to words of hate is the same as condoning it.  I will, very professionally of course, say something.