I love when places of public accommodation decide their racism emboldens them enough to boastfully violate the provisions and rights protected in Chapter 233 of the Nevada Revised Statutes. Disparate treatment based on race is not, and will never be okay. I will always call out the tom foolery when it presents. I absolute LOVE and adore sparing my monetary support of discriminatory troglodytes. And that's on my ancestors.
If you have the AUDACITY, I'm always going to match it, so here we go. Let's unfurl what happened on the evening of 10/28/2025!
Leaving a fitting for a formal event nearby and on my way to Sprouts, I noticed the glow of Grocery Outlets, a store I'd never heard of before, let alone visited. The fact their marquee noted "Organics" especially caught my eye as a clean eater. I decided to stop in impromptu, with hopes I'd just come across my new savings' treasure trove, and source for my weekly grocery shopping.
Upon entering Grocery Outlet, holding my small, translucent bag (roughly at dims 9" x 5" x 2") which solely contained an *expensive* & newly fitted accessory with its receipt, a Grocery Outlet clerk emerged and mumbled something. I was turned in the other direction grabbing a hand basket, and actually fumbled the contents of my translucent bag trying to turn her way to hear what she was saying.
Since whatever she mumbled was longer than your standard greeting and I could not hear the clerk clearly, I asked "I didn't catch that; what did you say?"
Her brow furrowed and she said "you'll have to leave that bag upfront" I was taken aback, but then matched energies. I furrowed my brow right back to her. "Uh, no, I will be keeping my belongings on my person," I retorted. She mumbled something else and basically waved me into the store.
I put that hand basket right the hell back. I do not spend my money with people prejudiced at my mere presence. I then asked for the manager on duty. At the manager's arrival, he backpeddled on the clerk's original sentiment and said he was fine with my (again, and for emphasis) small, TRANSLUCENT bag remaining with me. He mentioned the owners don't like to have bags in the store... as other patrons were freely walked about with opaque bags, on their person.
I then keenly observed whether other adult, female-presenting people who'd just entered the store, but were of a different hue than I, experienced the same harassment and accost.
SURPRISE: they didn't. Two other women with opaque bags, bigger than mine even, didn't have a single word mumbled their way. Therein lies the problem and clear instance of disparate treatment--I was the only unambiguously, Black, woman in the store, and the only one grumbled at. You sure tried it!
I find it ironic that a clerk working at a paltry wage themself had the gumption to see fit to punch down because of the profiling tactics they've subscribed to. Only cognitive dissonance puts this type of battery in one's back. But let me tell you, I'm not the one. Not even the two. And hopefully one day businesses such as these, operating in poor integrity, learn that playing silly, discriminatory games merits even goofier prizes! read more