It was a Thursday night and a few friends of mine decided to go to McDonald’s after a night of dancing at one of the local Pittsburgh nightclubs. My friends Raven, Sara, LaShawnda, Brad, Ryan and I were walking down Forbes Avenue in two separate groups. The first group consisted of Sara, LaShawnda and me. We were speed walking because we were starving and needed food immediately. The second group consisted of Raven, Brad and Ryan. Raven was the third wheel as the newly formed couple at the time stopped every few moments to show an abundance of PDAs toward each other. Sara, LaShawnda and I entered McDonald’s, and it was surprisingly empty for 3 a.m. (compared to the other times I had been there that early). Sara and I got our food quickly and we proceeded to the nearest booth near a few McDonald’s workers. After LaShawnda got her food, she left out the double doors and went back to Carlow University.
Ten minutes passed by, and finally Raven, Ryan and Brad graced us with their presence. Raven entered through the double doors as Ryan and Brad paused to give each other one more kiss before they entered. As they kissed, behind me I heard one of McDonald’s workers say, “Ew, look at the fags,” as she pointed at Ryan and Brad showing affection toward each other.
The other workers then laughed at her statement while continuing to chow down on their food. I looked backed in disbelief of what I heard come out of this woman’s mouth. I asked Sara if she heard what the woman had just said, and she was completely unaware of what was going on. I briefly informed her of what was said and she was as appalled as I was.
Ryan and Brad finally entered McDonald’s (still being extremely affectionate toward each other) and they walked toward the counter. The McDonald’s workers were still looking at each other with disgusted looks on their faces. Before Raven, Brad and Ryan sat down in our booth, the McDonald’s workers in the booth behind us got up and went out for a smoke break. As soon as our whole group was sitting together, I felt like it was my right to tell Ryan and Brad what one of the workers said about them. Both men were hurt and furious by the derogatory statement. I then asked them what action they want to take next. Neither of them wanted to sweep the matter under the rug.
As the workers were outside finishing their smoke break, Ryan and Brad finished their meal, headed to the counter and requested to speak to the manager. Ryan, Brad and the manager had a discussion about the statement that the employee made. The manager clarified that the views of the employee did not reflect the view of the company, and that her statement was unacceptable. As soon as the McDonald’s worker walked in from her smoke break, the manger called her over to join the conversation. She immediately tried to make up an excuse as to what she was referring to when she made that statement. She claimed to be referring a female co-worker that was sitting in the booth with her that made a comment about wanting to bring another woman into the bedroom in order to spice things up in the bedroom with her boyfriend.
Her excuse and her comment did not match up because she had pointed at Ryan and Brad as she made the comment, so how could she be referring to her co-worker's sex life? After figuring that her excuse was not adding up, she apologized to Brad and Ryan. Both men accepted her apology, but will probably always remember her hurtful words. The manager gave her a warning for her actions and told her to get back to work. That night, we all left McDonald’s at 4 a.m., still in shock over the hateful words we had heard, but relieved that Ryan and Brad got the apology they deserved.
The moral of the story is that you should be careful of what you say because you do not know who is listening and who’s feelings you are hurting in the process. You should treat others the way you would like to be treated on a daily basis and not bring others down. The woman who made these comments was an African American woman, and her statement boggled my mind because she offended two men that are minorities because of their sexuality. Being we are all marginalized groups, whether we are gay, African American, Hispanic, disabled, Muslim, Asian, a woman or based on any other factor, then we should work together for the advancement of all our rights instead of working against each and one-upping one another. Everyone, please do your best to be kind to one another. Don't not spread messages of hate.
