Attitudinal hostility of the sale staff in the fast food business

Aug 31, 2017 Letters

Dear Editor,
I read the letter about ‘rough’ service from sales staff in shops ad rather liked the term “attitudinal hostility”. That people accept poor service in food shops is puzzling to me. With so many such shops around, why not just leave and go elsewhere?
When I last visited Guyana – a few years ago – there were so many food outlets in the city that it was easy to get one’s food somewhere else. To me, the easiest course would be for employers to brief serving staff about what is and what is not allowed. For my part, one such ‘display’ and I would walk away, appetite lost. All the places I visited were clean and well run.
I still find it difficult to enjoy a full meal on my own in public. A snack yes; a full meal always in my hotel/guest house room, the best I can recall and recount being in Washington, DC, some years ago, a stone’s throw from the White House.
We were “over-nighting,” before our departure for the UK the next day. For dinner arrangements, we were advised to ‘turn to the right for dinner”. Being the only non-white in the group, I decided to ‘go left’ instead. I walked about a block away – and came upon a ‘soul food’ takeaway! From the wall menu, I chose a combination which turned out to be the most beautiful meal I had had during that holiday – fried chicken and ‘fixings’, including ‘dirty rice’, bread roll. a mixed salad, all securely placed on a suitable tray. Not a white face in sight.
My companions sniffed as I walked past them, still presumably trying to decide on dinner arrangements. Travel expands the view of life. I learnt how much Americans in general appreciated things British – often observed us in awe. Black and white, we acted together as we did in the UK. This took staff in touring areas by surprise – both in the USA and in the Caribbean. I let the Caribbean guides know that black and white Brits sat together and moved together when occasion called for it. On holiday I had noticed that Americans moved in separate ‘colour’ groups.
My happiest recollection was on a boat cruise one night during a visit to Miami, sharing a table with two white Brit. young women. We sat together, chatting, and one of them offered me a taste of her drink! The general reaction from the whites was comical.
We Brits looked at one another. The young women were from the North, so they probably worked among blacks, had several such friends, maybe even ‘dated’ black chaps.
If there is one thing I am willing to vouch for among Brits in general is their loathing for American obvious racial prejudice. Holidaying in America, they always hover around me at any sign of awkwardness.
At one tourist shop, when the elderly cashier offered me a bundle of worn notes as change, one of them almost torn in half. I handed it back and asked her to let me have a different one. The Brits at the back cheered; she was taken by surprise, probably then realising we were not Yanks. I did not much mind well-worn notes – I used them as ‘tips’.
We all still have much to learn.
A word on Astor cinema; So lovely to take a trip down memory now and again. We, now part of the diaspora in the UK, often read contributions, pass the word along, compare notes and either laugh or mourn the passing of the things we once enjoyed. I read of the imminent demolition of the Astor cinema, and it brought to mind my primary school days, in the 1940s, passing it before its opening, on my way home from St. Philips school. There was a flying banner with the name of its first film. As I recall, the film was “Golden Boy”; its second film, I think was “Ganga Din”.
The cinema, as I recall, was owned by Mr. Correia, who lived with his family in Fifth Street, Alberttown. He stored his films in a bunker at the back of his house. On two occasions, years apart, fires took place at night, starting in the bunker. On the second occasion, a woman neighbour jumped from a window in trying to escape: she subsequently died. They were a kind family, and neighbourhood school boys were often given free ‘pit’ tickets when business was slow.
There was a certain amount of drama attached to the Astor cinema, but it remained a favourite with many. As children, on Holy Thursday, we made a special visit to see a showing of the “Passion Play”, usually around 1.00 pm. Boys from the country would relate the tale afterwards of how “they ‘jucked’ the star boy in his side”! May this cinema’s demise be given the respect and dignity it deserves.
Geralda Dennison

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Attitudinal hostility of the sale staff in the fast food business

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