A & I get kicked out of JCrew

After almost four months of remaining mall-free, A and I decided to break down and go this afternoon.  Of course, it was a very poor decision because it was crappy, cold and rainy out so the mall was packed and it was a total madhouse. A decided to take Miss M for a walk to search out potty-training stickers and I split off to run into JCrew. 

I was walking behind a middle-aged couple and their teenage son, who were also going to JCrew.  As we were heading into the store, the middle-aged woman almost bumped into a an Asian family pushing a stroller.   She glanced around to see who could hear her, then she said to her husband and son, "I almost got ran over by a rickshaw!!"  Then the son and the husband laughed.

I was only about 5 feet behind them, so of course I heard to.  Of course, I couldn’t help but say something.

So, VERY loudly, I said, "What a racist thing to say! You know, it just isn’t acceptable to walk around saying racist things out loud any more!"

The woman looked really startled and said "What? I can say whatever I want."

Then, losing my temper, I said (very loudly) "Sure, you can say whatever you want, but then I can call you a racist bitch!" The woman looked shocked and kind of stumbled backward.

Then the husband decided he was going to step in. He stepped toward me in a really threatening way and stopped about six inches from me.  He leaned in over me and said: "What did you just say to my wife?"

Unfortunately for the husband, due to my quite antagonistic teenage years (in which I spent my weekends and evenings in mosh pits getting black eyes for fun) I was not really the slightest bit intimidated.

I said (even louder) "I SAID, ‘Your wife is a RACIST BITCH!’ It isn’t acceptable to make racist comments in public any more.  Maybe you didn’t know? " 

Then I stepped just a tiny bit toward him to show I wasn’t backing down.

I think he was surprised that I was not backing down.  Then he said meanly, "You better stay away from my wife or you’ll be sorry."  Then they walked away into JCrew.

I walked into the store too and pretended to shop.  Inside I was feeling kind of jittery, but also pretty self-righteous.  The family was walking around the store giving me dirty looks and laughing loudly.

I was still pretty pissed.  Instead of walking to find A, I decided to wait right outside the store, in plain view.  At one point, I saw the family walk like they were going to leave, see me standing right outside the door and turn around and head to the very back of the store.

A happened to walk up when the family was at the checkout counter.  I said "Hey, walk into JCrew with me. I’ll tell you why later."

A was less than enthusatic about my plan and then Miss M started freaking out and screaming (she was hungry).  Then I told A what had happened.

He was mildly interested until I got to the part about the husband getting all up in my grill.  THEN, he was pissed.  He said "Wait here. I will be right back." And started marching into the store. 

Somewhat afraid he was going to punch the guy or make a scene, I yelled for him to come back.  He came back just a little and said "Who was it, that guy? (pointing at the correct man)"

There was a sales girl in the front of the store watching us closely.  "This nice young lady right here knows I am not going to do anything inappropriate"  A said, gesturing toward the sales girl (who looked somewhat alarmed). 

Then A took off toward the counter.  Dragging a screaming M and a stroller (rickshaw), I trailed a ways behind.   The family saw A coming, looked shocked, and turned and faced the rear of the store.

A walked right up to the man at the checkout-counter, pointed at him and asked me (halfway across the store) "This guy?"  I nodded.

Then A said very loudly "Do you have a problem with my wife?"

THey guy said "I don’t have a problem with your wife!"

Then A pointed to his wife.  "Does SHE have a problem with my wife?"

Looking thoroughly freaked out, the guy said "We don’t have a problem with anyone!"

At this point, two sales people stepped in and said "Excuse sir, you can’t have this argument in here."

Finally, I had made it to the counter, Miss M under one arm yelling about wanting to hold the shopping bag.  "SHE said something really racist and HE had a problem with me saying something about it." I said.

The family looked like they wanted to floor to open up and swallow them whole. "Lets just GO!" said the wife.  They scurried away quickly.  Then the sales ladies got all apologetic to us. 

Trying to collect our stuff and our whiny girl, the sales people kept apolgizing for asking us to leave.  "Oh, it’s ok." we said.  Then they gave M a sticker and we went happily on our way.

While A and I may have gone just a little over the line, I would be willing to bet that woman will never feel safe making racist comments in the mall again.