I had a damn near mental breakdown today at my Army recruiting Sgt.'s office and it was all because of your employees. I have never been treated and spoken to with such disrespect and racism.
I was threatened with being "kicked out" and "banned from the mall" for according to your Store Manager Chloe "making employees uncomfortable; making customers uncomfortable; and disparaging my product." in her words.
I do not know what prompted this, because when I walked in she was cool and even said "what's up big man." I truly considered her and everybody there a friend but now I see clearly what is really going on.
First off I want to say that if what I said to an employee regarding me saying "that is a nice vest and your outfits are on point this year" i mean that within the parameters of my U.S. Army Soldier's Creed and the policies of S.H.A.R.P. That is our sexual harassment policy we live and breathe in and out of the service. I have personally reported fellow servicemen who violated S.H.A.R.P. policies and were reprimanded and dealt with accordingly by my recruiting Staff Sgt Anderson personally. I say that to say this: I would never in any way shape or form violate the US Army code of conduct, the soldier's creed, S.H.A.R.P., and most importantly my own personal code of honor that i hold myself up to which is a higher standard than all combined.
Secondly, the audacity and caucacity with which i was so disrespectfully spoken to shook me to my core. so much so that i broke down crying in my sgt's offices and honestly this incident has made me question myself and everything. I am no longer going to join the army and it's directly due to the racism I experienced at your store from your Employee and Store manager talking to me the way she did. Saying things like "i'm off my gourd" with no proof whatsoever is slander, saying that i "disparage" your products when I personally know the people who make the art that you claim to have love for but really you are just culture vultures who appropriate my culture and chicano lifestyle and fashion but when a Chicano like me walks in your store then its a problem. You and your employees have proven singlehandedly the hypocrisy and racism that is embedded in Bellingham. You dare steal my culture, my lifestyle, my fashion, and have your employees speak to me with such disdain when I did not know even know what I did and cause me to leave the army and have a mental breakdown in my sgt's offices is the stuff of dreams for lawyers, which you will be hearing from. The emotional damage that you have caused me has no measure and I have now made it my own personal mission to get your Store Manager fired, and the employee who projected her racism unto me when all I did was trying to compliment the fashion sense y'all claim to be proud of and wear with pride.
I hope you are prepared for the shitstorm and lawsuits that are to come and I hope you do your due dilligence and make the right decisions. You only employ white people, directly hired by your store manager Chloe. I never even got a phone call or email when I tried to apply. You have one diversity hire in the only person of color. The other quit and she told me because of the bullshit you were on. I was going to let it go until my breakdown at my U.S. Army recruiting station and the fact that I decided to leave the army when that's all I ever wanted just goes to show and prove how much the racist, rude, disrespectful remarks that were made to me affected me. read more