A Texas woman married to a police officer was refused service in a supermarket after an apparently black cashier got a glimpse of the message on her t-shirt, which proclaimed that “police lives matter.”
The woman, who chose to be identified only as Meredith, told ABC affiliate KTRK, that the teenage cashier did not address her directly about the shirt but instead spoke with a coworker. “She was stating that the shirt I had on was basically a slap in the face to her and she was doing everything she could not to cry,” Meredith told reporters.
But the incident is not isolated. Opposing Views notes a similar occurrence in Alexandria, La., where a woman named Sabrina Farace says she was refused service at Kroger. Farace, who is herself on the force, provided details of her ecounter to the website Blue Lives Matter:
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On 09-27-16 at approximately 4:00 PM I was in Kroger’s shopping with my 6-year-old daughter. I walked up to the checkout line and placed my items on the counter for the cashier to scan my items. She sat there for a few moments and kept looking at me odd. When she refused to speak or pick any of my items up, I asked her if I could help her. She replied, “Do you have your Kroger card?” At which I responded, “Yes, I do.” I handed her my Kroger member card and she reluctantly took it from my hands. After she took [the card] I was waiting for her to continue checking me out. She looked at me and with a rude tone she asked “Are you on the force?” I stated, “Come again?” She asked again, rudely, “Are you on the force, are you a cop?” I stated “Yes, maam I am a cop.” She then looked at me and stated, “I can’t check you out, I have to go get my supervisor.”
Kroger has since issued a formal response:
Please know that we are disappointed and sorry to hear about the incidents in Alexandria, Louisiana and Spring, Texas…. We want our customers, associates and the law enforcement community to know how deeply we appreciate and honor our police officers and the other first responders who put their lives on the line to keep us safe every day. We’ve taken steps to ensure this doesn’t happen again — and we are reminding associates that is [sic] our responsibility to honor our company values of Diversity and Inclusion and treating our customers with Integrity and Respect in every interaction, every day. Our goal is always to create a welcoming, hospitable environment for all customers.
Meredith saya she is not seeking to have the cashier fired, adding that her goal is rather to ensure that people in the service industry understand their responsibility to customers.
