I’ve been running across a pattern of incidents where receipts (mostly restaurants) are being used to post racist slurs in the place of customer names.
It’s odd that we’re seeing this type of behavior more, it’s not like receipts are a new communication platform like Twitter. Perhaps the urge to express themselves publicly is a product of the Twitter/Facebook generation? Or maybe it’s being reported more? Not sure.
Also, why does it seem to be happening in New York? C’mon New York, quit the lazy racism. Anyways, here’s a chronological rundown of most recent racist receipts (Asian remix):
UPS Delivery Person Leaves Package for Chink
April 23, 2014 (Tennessee): UPS driver leaves package with the front desk “chink”. The problem? There’s no front desk.
From AngryAsianMan: In this CNN iReport, user lisak81 posted a screenshot of the UPS website, where she had logged on to check on the status of a delivery. According to UPS, the package had not only been delivered, but it had been left at the “front desk” and signed by said “Chink.” In a Facebook post, the customer notes that she lives in a house — with no such front desk — and no, her name is not Chink.
What Happened to the Employee? No word yet. Stay tuned.
CVS Employee Develops Photos for “Ching Chong” Yee
On February 7th, 2013 (Egg Harbor City, New Jersey): Hyun Lee went to pick up her photos from a local CVS and noticed that her first name had been changed to “Ching Chong.”
From CBS Local: A southern New Jersey woman of Korean descent is suing CVS Pharmacy, claiming a worker used an Asian slur to identify her on a receipt for photographs. Attorney Susan Chana Lask said Hyun Lee used her own name when ordering pictures online, but noticed her name was listed as “Ching Chong Lee” on the receipt when she picked up the photos on Feb. 7 at a CVS in Egg Harbor City.
See full receipt image at Smoking Gun
What Happened to the Employee? CVS got sued for $1 million, and the two sides settled out of court. CVS didn’t even fire the employee, instead “William” will be “counseled and trained.”
Hooters Girls Laugh at “Chinx” Couple
July 01, 2012 (Fresh Meadows, Queens): When one of the prerequisites of your workforce is to be like, cute, I can’t say that I am totally surprised. Even still, racism is racism, no matter how cute or uncute you are. The really funny thing about this? The couple was Korean. Get it?
The New York Times: Kisuk Cha and his girlfriend, both Korean immigrants, walked into a Hooters and ordered buffalo shrimp and chicken wings to go. After they placed their order, they noticed their server and another employee standing at the computer giggling and “gawking at them,” according to the lawsuit. When the server handed them their receipt, Mr. Cha and his girlfriend saw that in the space reserved for the customer’s name, the cashier had typed “chinx.”
What Happened to the Employee? During an inquiry run by Hooters, the 17-year old employee admitted to the offensive act and resigned on the spot. Cha is suing Hooters for an unspecified amount of money.
Thank You For Choosing Papa John’s, Lady Chinky Eyes
January 06, 2012 (Harlem, New York): Minhee Cho went into her local Papa John’s to order a pizza, only to discover a day later that the receipt described her as “Lady Chinky Eyes”. Wow.
New York Daily News: (she) was shocked when she learned she had been described by a Papa John’s employee as “lady chinky eyes.” The public relations rep spotted the disparaging phrase on her receipt Saturday a day after visiting a Hamilton Heights branch of the popular pizzeria “Hey @PapaJohns just FYI my name isn’t ‘lady chinky eyes,’” Cho tweeted, along with the an image of the offensive receipt.
What Happened to the Employee? Papa John’s first wanted to give the girl sensitivity training, but she was ultimately fired after the shitstorm that it created for the company. Still, the Assistant Manager defended the employees involved, saying: “I apologize. They’re not bad people,” she said. “I’ve seen the receipt and I don’t know why they wrote that but I’m sure they didn’t mean to offend her in any way.”
Chik-Fil-A Cashier Serves Customers “Ching” and “Chong”
December 9, 2011 (Orange County, CA): Three friends went to their local Chick-Fil-A only to discover that a 4-year old bully was running the cash register. Looks like you can get a full hate meal at Chik-Fil-A nowadays; come for the homophobia, stay for the racism.
From Grubstreet: …three UC Irvine students of Asian heritage went to a Chick-fil-A location in Orange County last week only to be insulted with racist stereotypes: The employee at the register reportedly never asked for their names, instead labeling two of the students with the terms “Ching” and “Chong” on their receipts.
What Happened to the Employee? Chick-Fil-A released a statement, saying that the company fired the offending team member “Lia” saying that it was a product of her “immaturity, failed judgment, and human error.” I’ll say.
Lazy Racism
In my research of these racist receipts, I wasn’t shocked to see that the offending parties “didn’t realize the gravity of it and how offensive it was” and that reporting the incident was akin trying “to get some attention“ for themselves.”
Jerome, a manager at the Harlem Papa John’s defended his co-worker’s actions by saying employees use slang to identify customers: “It’s a busy place, and it was a way to identify her and her order. You know, we do stuff like that sometimes. We’ll write ‘the lady with the blue eyes’ or ‘the guy in the green shirt.”
And in reporting the CVS incident, CBSLocal.com posted a poll asking their users whether the CVS worker should be fired, and more than 57% said “No” or “No, but perhaps suspended”.
Sigh. So lazy. So racist. Here’s something to ponder – with each of these receipts, how many more employees are thinking it or saying it without being so dense as to put it on a receipt. My guess is for every receipt, there’s another 50 that’s not caught (thrown away), and hundreds that are never printed out.
