A TikTok creator’s quick response to a golfer’s joke has gone viral, with viewers praising how she responded to what they called a microaggression.
Creator, comedian, and part-time golf course drink cart worker Zalaiya Nefwani (@zalaiyanefwani) recently shared a video of the encounter, which has 1.9 million views and almost 257,000 likes.
@zalaiyanefwani I think fun/sarcastic golfers are my fav!😂⛳️ #funny #sarcastic #golfers #golfersbelike #golf #cartgirl #zalaiyanefwani #blackcartgirl #cartgirltiktok #blackbevcartgirl #bevcartgirl #brownskingirls #melaningirls #blackgirlsatwork #blackpoloshirt #dailyvlog #dailyposts #newvideo #sarcastichumor ♬ original sound – zalaiyanefwani
Zalaiya’s video is one of several she’s posted documenting her shifts on the golf course. “I think fun/sarcastic golfers are my fav!” she wrote in the caption.
In the video, a white golfer, whose face is unseen, appears to ask the creator, who is Black, “Do you take food stamps?”
Zalaiya’s comeback to the facetious joke: “You know, we just stopped taking food stamps. We don’t anymore. You don’t have enough money or what?”
A person later hands her a $50 bill. “Is it real?” she quips.
“It better be,” the golfer responds.
The creator then proceeds to good-naturedly rib the golfers present about her tip. “What do you want back, a dollar?” she says.
“Thank you for being out here,” one of the golfers says.
Alaiya finishes the video with, “A golfer just said, ‘You’re much cuter than the last guy who served us.’”
Several commenters called out the golfer’s joke about food stamps as a microaggression toward the Black creator.
According to Vox, “Microaggressions are more than just insults, insensitive comments, or generalized jerky behavior. They’re something very specific: the kinds of remarks, questions, or actions that are painful because they have to do with a person’s membership in a group that’s discriminated against or subject to stereotypes. And a key part of what makes them so disconcerting is that they happen casually, frequently, and often without any harm intended, in everyday life.”
“Def a microaggression but asking if he didn’t have enough money was good,” one person commented. “Uno reversed his ass,” someone replied. “Love her reply but I feel like this is his go to joke and probably uses it when paying for anything,” another person replied.
“She flipped that micro aggression so fast … period,” one viewer wrote.
Another person commented, “the ‘u don’t have enough money or what? is it real..?’ yeah you snapped.”
“She better than me. Cart woulda been flipped after the food stamp comment,” one comment read.
Another comment read: “*bombastic side eye* that’s a microaggression at its finest.”
“I stan you and your quick responses,” one person chimed in. “Girl you gotta be QUICK out here!” Zalaiya replied.
According to Harvard Business Review, seven in 10 workers said they would be upset by a microaggression, while half said they could make them consider leaving a job. Microaggressions also can have real health effects on the people who experience them, according to Pfizer.
The Daily Dot reached out to Zalaiya via email.
