Microaggression?

For those of you who have never heard me whine about my physical impairments, I have a six inch plate and eight screws permanently affixed to my lower right leg, arthritis, a damaged metatarsal nerve, and sciatica. While none of these conditions are debilitating, and I exercise daily, by most medical classifications, I am indeed considered handi-capable.

For my over all health, I take the hills, and make my walking as beneficial as possible. I did just that on my journey to the grocery store earlier. I slowly made my way up the unshoveled hill on Madison Street towards Comstock Avenue. It is a brisk day, but sunny, lovely.

I traverse snowy unshoveled ground gingerly, in that the plate is the result of a fall on black ice. Looking ahead of me I noticed two sorority sisters dressed in their signature black down parkas and Ray Bans, walking towards me in conversation. One was taller than the other, and neither could have weighed one hundred pounds. I continued to walk, watch the ground and them, in that the walking space was very narrow. As they approached, I assumed they would move to their right in that there was a bank of snow at least a couple feet high to my right.

The shorter of the two looked up at me just ten feet from me. When they reached me they didn't take a half step to the right as I anticipated. The shorter girl walking in front, with a determined look on her face rammed right into me. She did not excuse herself. A little shocked, I stopped and told them that they needed to share the sidewalk. The second girl looked shocked as well, but rather she looked at me as if she could not believe what "I" had just done to her sister. The first girl still did not acknowledge me. She prompted the other girl to continue her conversation as if nothing had happened.

When you believe that you are so important to the world, and so much better than others that you believe a guy nearly forty years your senior should hop into a snow bank to make way for you, that's not just bad manners, that's some privilege crap.

Microaggression and Retail or Can a Brotha Just Get a Suit?

This is an example of a microaggression:
A personable handsome young friend who has just started out in the corporate world went to that huge department store (in the large fall fruit city); you know the one, they have a sparkly red sign almost demanding that we "Believe" during the holidays.

He was prepared to purchase at least one professional outfit; suit, shirt, tie, shoes, and even socks. He wears as I do, (and a very large segment of the male population wears), a 42R. He selected a suit he liked, and texted me for my sartorial counsel. I liked it, I explained why, and we discussed shirts and ties. He asked store personnel for assistance finding his size, and was told by a snippy sales associate that they were out of his size. "What about a 40R? I sometimes can make that work?" No 40R's either... He is told that he cannot be accommodated. My young friend is new to suit shopping, retail laziness, and microaggression.

He texted me the problem. I asked how two of the three most popular sizes in men's suits could be out of stock? Why didn't the sales associate try another store, or guide the young man to another choice? My young friend didn't want to be bothersome or make any kind of scene so, he decided to check back in a couple days on Friday.

After work he stopped back at the department store, and found his size, 42R by himself immediately. He asked for a dressing room, and was pointed the way. While trying the suit he discovered that the pants were 30W and not 33W.  He works out daily, has six-pack abs, but prefers a 33" waist, slim fit for comfort. He asked the sales associate for larger pants. He obviously sensed something was screwy here, and has called me leaving his phone on Speaker.

I heard a woman's voice telling him that he could only purchase the suit as is. She stated that she could not switch pants out for a larger size. I know this to be complete bull. In addition, while 42R is maybe the most popular jacket size, I would guess that the percentage of adult males with a chest that big and a waist that small is <1%. In fact, I have complained numerous times over the years about the 36W or 38W pants that come with 42R suits, and have to be altered to remove three or four inches. Sometimes the back pockets almost join. To accommodate men, the majority of labels allow switching. How is the lad supposed to purchase suit pants two sizes too small?

I was really annoyed at this point, and advise that he leave the store and never return. We ended the call. I text him a couple minutes later:

Seriously, I wouldn't go back there. They should be trying to sell you a suit. You shouldn't be begging to buy one!

Although black, my young friend believes that microaggressions are a constraint of money and status, and a text message is hardly the best venue to wake someone. I have thought for some time that the big city would wake him because it doesn't sleep.