Restaurant workers always seem to face humanity at its worst, and one TikToker’s story that started out innocently enough—a customer asking her for her name—is certainly upholding that rule.
Marjorie (@marjthegemm) was responding to a call for service industry workers to share the most disrespectful thing that’s happened to them on the job, opting to tell a story about a new customer who came into a restaurant where she really enjoyed working.
“So this guy comes in, and I realize at this point that he’s never been there before,” she said. “I proceed to give him my spiel, like I do every new customer.”
Things seemed like they were going well at first. Marjorie said she and the customer were chatting and vibing, and she thought for sure she would get a solid tip off of this service. But things took a turn when he asked her to repeat her name.
“I’m like, ‘Marjorie.’ He’s like, ‘What?’ I’m like, ‘Marjorie.’ He’s like, ‘No, your first name.’ I’m like, ‘Marjorie.’ Like, what the fuck? It’s Marjorie!” she recounted. “How has this guy never heard the name Marjorie? I know it’s not common, but it’s not, like, alien.”
As the back and forth continued, Marjorie said she slowly realized that racism was creeping in—the man wasn’t getting her name because he didn’t think it fit her as a Black woman.
“He’s like, ‘Well you kind of look like you would click, like you’re exotic,’” she said. “He’s like, ‘Your name should be something with an -isha or an -equa at the end.’”
Marjorie said she was “clutching [her] goddamn pearls” at the man’s audacity. It wasn’t long after that, she said she realized when he said she looked like she would “click,” the customer was referring to languages spoken in African villages.
“So this guy took a look at me and decided that whatever fantasy he had of me in his head, I didn’t live up to that, so the name that I gave him was not good enough,” she said. “And I just don’t know what he thought the result was going to be.”
Marjorie’s first video received more than 116,000 views since being posted on Oct. 12. Much like Marjorie, viewers were not amused with this guy’s insistence that her name couldn’t possibly be exactly what it is.
“I like that you tried to extend grace but this man oh no girl I woulda lost it,” one TikToker wrote.
“People have such audacity it’s unreal!” @brit.brit28 agreed.
“This man sounds like those AIs that are made to [watch] 1000 hours of something and write a script,” @brendatea said. “He really said every stereotypical racist thing he could.”
Fortunately, Marjorie said one of her co-workers saw what was happening and announced it was time for her to go on break.
“He saved lives that day,” she joked.
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