Sheila Young
Google
It was my very first time visiting a cigar shop this past Saturday night. Upon walking in, the young lady working behind the counter, who was White, with dirty blonde hair, wearing a rounded hat, seemed very annoyed & exhibited little to no patience with the customers who had come in before us. For example, a man came from the back and asked her where water was located, and she snapped, "in the sink". My friend & I were taken aback by her tone & response, but we decided to continue looking around.
She seemed knowledgeable & answered the questions we had; however, it seemed a bit rushed on her end. I made sure to emphasize multiple times that it was my first time at a cigar shop in hopes that it would soften her a bit. After picking out our cigars, she asked if we'd like to keep the canisters they came in. I told her that we would & she said okay, & after we paid for our cigars, she cut them, gave us the basics, & pointed to the back to where we could sit. She told us to come back to the front when we were finished so she could cut them again for storage so we could enjoy them later.
After we sat in the back for a bit and enjoyed our cigars, we were ready to leave so we headed back to the front. When I asked for our cigar canisters, she replied, "I threw them away." I was shocked because she was the one that asked if we wanted to keep them. I politely reminded her of that conversation & asked her why she threw them away despite knowing that, & she nonchalantly responded, "I just didn't think about it." Although I was perplexed, I decided to just let it go. She then suggested bagging them instead. I said it was fine but in the midst of her prepping my cigar, a man walked in and asked for mints. She again, curtly responded, "They're over there" & vaguely pointed over to her right without actually showing him. When I looked back to the counter to my surprise, I watched her take my cigar & place it in a bag with someone else’s smoked cigars from another customer. I calmly pointed out what she had just done, & once again her response was uncaring & unapologetic. She just stopped looked down at the bag of now-mixed cigars, & oddly stared me down. A simple apology & a replacement cigar would have sufficed; however, I didn't get that from her. After no apology or solution was given, I expressed my concern about how unsanitary the mistake had been & how I no longer could accept my cigar back. Still she said nothing. The gentlemen who waited behind then stepped up in the midst of her stare-down & said, "Mam, I'd like to buy both of these ladies a cigar." out of sympathy for us. I turned to thank him but also took the opportunity to explain it was the 2nd mistake on the young lady's behalf & that she issued not one apology. I also explained to him that despite this, I remained calm & non-confrontational, and in return, all I received was a stare-down with zero accountability. At that moment, she rudely blurted out, "And I'm not going to apologize and you two can leave!" My friend & I were in complete disbelief. Her tone was filled with anger, & aggression. Again, I made the conscious choice to remain calm.
As women of color, we are all too familiar with this sort of behavior & with the gaslighting that is used to villainize people who look like us in situations where we are innocent. Her reply had shown us we were no longer welcome there & we knew in an instant police could be called & the truth manipulated although we had done nothing wrong. At that moment, for my friend and I's safety, we decided to leave. As I was leaving, I told her that this incident was meant for her to learn, take accountability, & fix it as the next time she mistreated someone as poorly as she did us, she may not be as fortunate to get patient & understanding people despite her ill behavior. Let's just say we will NEVER return to this location again as mistakes are not acknowledged, customers are treated poorly, & we were met with such aggression & nastiness, & we didn't feel safe in that space despite being innocent paying customers.
