Source:  The Globe and Mai

By Riza Khamal

“One medium French vanilla, please,” my daughter says, placing her order at a drive-through window.

“Is that all?” the intercom voice inquires.

I quickly respond: “And 10 Timbits, please.”

We approach the window and pay, but slightly behind the attendant who has taken our money, I overhear one of her co-workers.

“Oh God!” It’s loud enough for me to hear and I’m close enough to see her eyes rolling. This is the second time she has greeted me with such a negative reaction after seeing my niqab.

I sigh and speak to the cashier: “There are still ignorant people in this country.”

The cashier had closed the window upon taking my payment and when it opens again, our coffee and Timbits appear. Now there were two brown women at the cash register. The rude staffer has become invisible.

“Do you have cultural orientation for employees?” I ask the women at the window. “No,” they answer, so no wonder that despite exposure to a variety of customers, some are still ignorant.

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