Dear Smith’s,
About 7 p.m. Friday August 3rd, I was with my husband and mother-in-law at your 7130 North Durango Drive location in Las Vegas, Nevada. I went to a checkout lane where the cashier and her African American customer appeared to be bantering in a socially acceptable but congenial manner. The customer was a casually dressed, mid to late thirties cleancut man.
The woman, and this is really important because it goes to why I’m writing this letter, was 50s-ish, 10 or 15 years younger than I am; and though the platinum bouffant was a bit much, she was in a little better shape than many women are at her age. She was old enough to have grown children and young enough to have teenagers if, given the American marriage statistics, she’d been married enough times. She was really assertive for a grocery store cashier and seemed somewhat clever.
As she gave the young man his change receipt, the auburn haired cashier she’d apparently been relieving came back from her break. This cashier was pleasant but too haggard for her age, probably mid-40s. She also was old enough to have teenagers but one can only hope that prematurely aged as she seemed, she didn’t have grown children.
As I waited for the cashier transition to be completed I was thinking about how lucky I’d been to be a legal professional in decent-paying jobs for 35 years where one of the perks is a level of social status no grocery store clerk could achieve unless she owned the grocery.
So when the blonde cashier made a jungle bunny joke to the previous customer that clearly shook him up after she’d been so friendly and seemed to embarrass the haggard redhead, I was feeling sorry for those two women who were younger than I am, had low status level jobs and, if they had children, especially adolescents, probably struggled every day of their (probably) disappointing lives.
Soon, the blonde was brandishing a big set of keys, which indicated she was probably a low level supervisor and the redhead was laughing nervously at the jungle reference, probably because she obviously was not the supervisor.
In Carson McCullers’ novel, TO KILL A MOVKINGBIRD, the black man falsely accused of rape by a poor white girl shocks the courtroom by saying he often performed chores for her because, “I felt sorry for her.”
It’s probably clear by now that I believe I got a better deal out of life than those two younger than I am white women. I would bet a week of happiness that most people who commit racial harassment act out for reasons that have nothing to do with race. I also believe most people will not stop acting out in a racist way in the workplace unless they are told by management that they can’t and that is why I am writing this letter.
Nothing can be done about the kinds of disappointments and frustrations of middle aged women (very often divorced with children) in low status jobs until there is equity throughout our society.
#racism #statusofwomen #genderequity #socialclasses
I am very pleased that a two-hour monography of my work (works completed between 2015-2018) is being showcased on 
The story begins when Dr. Jane, during her routine checkup on The Reenactor, is alarmed by the readings on the medical monitor. She follows him from section to section of the Space Bubble, as he wanders in a zombie-like state reciting monologues from Shakespearean tragedies (Macbeth, Hamlet, Lear). The Reenactor eventually disappears, merging through the Plasma covering an entryway at the of a hall. The doctor studies the readings for a moment, shakes her head and puts her instruments, gloves, mask and head covering into her pockets. She removes her jacket and begins to merge into Dermalian form. She comingles with the Plasma as the scene ends.
In the meantime, Captain Barack is at the helm reporting via IntraSpacial (the Dermalian communication system) to his superior at Dermalia Prime High Command, Sub-Commander Jacqueline Pearce who is Director of the Earth Archaeological Project. As he closes his communication, Dr. Jane enters the cockpit to make her routine checkups on Captain Barack and Plasma in the cockpit. Dr. Jane reports to Captain Barack that The Reenactor’s endless wandering is stressing the Plasma throughout the Space Bubble and possibly creating a life-threatening situation.
Captain Barack is in his ready room watching his IntraSpace screen. Sub-Commander Pearce appears on the screen.
THE OFFICE OF SUB-COMMANDER JACQUELINE PEARCE. Captain Barack is on the screen as he and Sub-Commander Pearce end their meeting. Once the screen clears, the sub-commander sits thinking for a few moments. Then she opens the Empathy Pad of her desk, lays her hands palm down on the pad and closes her eyes. The three-Dermalian committee that governs Dermalian projects appears on the screen. Sub-Commander Pearce requests a face to face meeting, saying there is a matter of extreme urgency regarding The Reenactor.
THE SOUL. (Backstory: though Dermalian culture is atheistic, true to the Dermalian love of history and culture, the Dermalians value and revere their origins, the symbol of which is the large cave named The Soul, an ancient habitat of early Dermalian ancestors. High Command was constructed over The Soul and The Soul was adapted to become the office of the Committee that governs High Command.) Sub-Commander Pearce enters The Soul, where the Committee is waiting for her. She tells them about the problem that The Reenactor’s roaming is causing on the Space Bubble. They tell her they will need to consult The Reenactor’s Guardian, since freedom of movement was at the heart of the Guardian’s granting permission for The Reenactor to go to Earth.
THE GREETING ROOM. The Guardian meets with Sub-Commander Pearce. He proposes a solution based on recent research and discoveries about Human exercise practices.
THE OFFICE OF SUB-COMMANDER JACQUELINE PEARCE. Sub-Commander Pearce is in her office watching her IntraSpace screen. Captain Méliés appears on the screen. The Sub-Commander grants him permission to communicate empathically. She informs him that his team is ordered to extend their time on Earth by eight weeks in order to assist Captain Barack’s team in their transition. She senses alarm in Captain Méliés’ reaction. He explains that Dr. Verne has become increasingly difficult. The Sub-Commander assures him that she will assist him any way she can in mitigating his difficulty.