I work behind the customer service desk, aka control center, at work and I generally stay pretty busy. During this time, I usually come across several stupid people at any given time. One day, a lady comes up to the desk and tells me she needs me to call her a cab. At the time, I was finishing something up, so I politely tell her that we have a phone that customers may use, and I will provide her a phonebook so she can call the cab and not have to wait for me. As I am walking to get the phonebook, she begins her little rant.
"Oh, I see. Is this a new service Kroger is offering where customers can call their own cabs?"
I figure, this can go either way and I respond with a simple, "yes, ma'am."
"Well," she says, "I am going to need to speak with a manager about this 'new service' Kroger is offering where a customer has to call her own cab."
At this point, the manager-on-duty walks behind the desk on his phone.
"Is this the manager? I am going to need to speak with this manager," she tells me.
I, again, say "yes, ma'am," and turn to get his attention as he is hanging up his phone. I then proceed to tell him that this customer would like to speak with him. This is how that plays out:
"Excuse me, yes, I need to speak with you about this 'new service' Kroger is offering their customers. I walked up to ask this lady to call me a cab. She hands me a phonebook and tells me to call my own cab."
My manager responds: "Well, ma'am, we usually hold our customers responsible for calling their own cabs. We have this phone here that most of our customers know they can use freely for such matters."
"Well, I am legally blind, but my medical history is none of this young lady's business. I cannot see that phonebook. That young lady is just standing there. Look at her, she is not doing anything. She could be calling me a cab."
My manager responds: "Ok, ma'am. I will call you a cab. Did you have a specific cab service you would prefer?"
My manager then proceeds to call this woman a cab. He walks away, after which coming back and telling me "not to worry about it. How was anyone supposed to know she was blind? She was reading a book!" (when she walked up to the desk, she had a notebook with her that she was flipping through, and sunglasses on her face. nothing about these sunglasses say that she is blind; i simply thought she was weird wearing sunglasses indoors- people do that, you know!)
The woman, however, goes to stand near the door to get something out of her purse, at which point a young man who is with her, and with whom I have already spoken to about his job application and I know for sure that he is perfectly capable of calling a cab for the two of them, walks up and together, they proceed outside to wait for the cab she wanted me, the white girl, to call for her.
