This past Monday, a friend and I decided to go to Northfield Liquor Store on a detour. As it was not planned, I didn't take my passport with me, but I thought my foreign ID would be okay because it includes my picture, birthdate, and also that I was born in the US. The problem is NOT that my ID turned out to be unacceptable but the way the employees treated us.
For example, the employees smiled to themselves when they didn't find my birthdate on the front. I tried to point out that it was on the back, but the employees refused to look. Then, one employee smiled smugly while deliberate moving the bottles outside our reach. Still smiling, she said "sorry," but this was clearly not about policy. This was a power play, one that was deeply insulting and racially charged.
My friend asked if they could come back later without me, and the smiling employee asked another if they could. That other employee said my friend could not return before the next day, even though they had a valid US ID.
If the store employees had been polite about explaining the policy, that would have been okay and we would have understood. Instead, rather than being professional, the employees prioritized asserting control over us through performance.
I'm sharing this because I hope this kind of experience becomes less common in our community. read more
