I saw two black posters, framed and displayed at both entrances of our local Wegman’s grocery store – “Stop hate, end racism, spread love.” Nobody can argue with the message, but I find it offensive because it is political indoctrination in a place where I buy food.
I asked the
cashiers’ manager, a young self-described black woman, why a grocery store
would get involved in politics and political indoctrination of the day, coming
from the left side of the political spectrum instead of selling groceries. Her
answer was that she was from Buffalo and everyone in her town, which suffered
violence at the hands of a deranged man, was happy that her employer stood
behind its employees. But Wegman’s headquarters is not in Buffalo, it is in
Rochester, NY. She just stared at me.
I told her
that I failed to understand how a piece of paper with three sentences on it
protected her from “white supremacists and racists” in this particular store.
She replied
that she felt safe because those two posters were there. I asked her how a
poster would protect her from another deranged individual walking in with a gun
and committing violence against innocent bystanders and shoppers.
I further
inquired if money would not be better spent on caring for the mentally ill
and to institutionalize those with violent tendencies, until such time that it
would be safe to have them walk among unsuspecting citizens. “No,” she
answered, “hate and racism cannot be reversed.”
I asked her
if she could give me one example of racism and hate that she experienced here
in northern Virginia. Her answer was that she did not feel comfortable talking
about it in the grocery store.
I replied
that she made my point. I do not feel comfortable being lectured and
politically indoctrinated in a grocery store either, by posters prominently displayed at both entrances, however seemingly
innocent the three sentences may be. It is political pandering to the left and its
divisive agenda. I prefer to find milk in a grocery store, not politics. On this day, the shelves where milk was found were empty. There was Fair Life milk in the back of the store.
I ended our
conversation after I told her that I did not feel comfortable buying food in a
place that is trying to indoctrinate me, a survivor of communism. We had such political
indoctrination posters under communism all over the place, including grocery
stores.
From a business POV, it would be wise to stay politically neutral and avoid aggravating a percentage of customers. I can't understand why so many companies don't understand this simple concept.
ReplyDeleteI couldn’t agree with you more. It reminds me of when some Starbucks put a picture of Trump on the floor right in the entrance. And could you imagine the outrage if it were a picture of Obama?
ReplyDelete