Walmart Cake....Keep in mind this actually happened!

[fey_spirit]

Now wait - isn't it just as racist to assume they were white?
Frankly the only clearly non racist way to view this would be not to assume color at all.

I know it never crossed my mind when I read that.

I’m sorry but as someone who identifies herself as a latina I have to say that I find very offensive to assume that the employee was anything but white just because of the way he spoke.

Southern4sure: “don’t forget the spatula”

 

[fey_spirit]

Now see down here I know all kinds of folks from every race who speak like this. My mom's best friend speaks like that and he's the whitest boy I've ever seen.

Then you'll have to add me to your list. Because when I read that I immediately thought it was a take-off on black speech patterns. That's not the way any other race talks where I live. And actually, it's not really the way black people talk, either, but it sure sounds like the way a white person would make up a black person's speech.

 

[fey_spirit]

I am willing to conceed that there may be some truth to what you say here. I have so carefully cultivated my desire not to view the world in a racist way that I may have somewhat blinded myself when it appears on a subtle level.

On the other hand, is it conceivably possible that some others may fight it against it ways that eventually causes them to see and infer racism where it never truly existed?

Well, the part you bolded when you quoted my post was a reference to the employess at Wal -Mart, many of whom I'm sure aren't smart enough to hear the instructions "Underneath that" and think to themselves, "Hey, she doesn't mean to write out those words, she means to move the icing down one line and then say something else."

But sure, I also think there are plenty of people, who wouldn't think that kind of speech was racist - lots of them have responded on this thread. But it's not "stupid" in the sense of not being intelligent - it's just a complete and utter lack of awareness that there could be an undertone of racism in that speech. I don't know exactly what I would call that - certainly not stupid, but maybe ignorant.

 

[kimmikayb]

The cake is funny!

Race never crossed my mind.

I think what we all should be very surprised at is the fact someone actually got a bakery person to wait on them at Wal Mart! I waited over 30 minutes the last time I was there.

 

[binny]

The cake is funny!

Race never crossed my mind.

I think what we all should be very surprised at is the fact someone actually got a bakery person to wait on them at Wal Mart! I waited over 30 minutes the last time I was there.

 

[Mickey'sMainMami]

I honestly just thought the person who did the cake was stupid. How do we even know that the person taking the order was the one who did it? We don't. I just assumed that the person writing on the cake would have more common sense that that, obviously not.

On another note, my husband had flowers sent to my job 2 weeks ago for our anniversary. It read:

Happy Anniversary Sweatheart.


Yep, I am officially a SWEAT heart. None of you can say that, so there!

 

[robinb]

On another note, my husband had flowers sent to my job 2 weeks ago for our anniversary. It read:

Happy Anniversary Sweatheart.


Yep, I am officially a SWEAT heart. None of you can say that, so there!

Yes, but was it in his handwriting ?

 

[CraftyMouse]

On another note, my husband had flowers sent to my job 2 weeks ago for our anniversary. It read:

Happy Anniversary Sweatheart.

Yep, I am officially a SWEAT heart. None of you can say that, so there!

When I was 9 or 10 years old I was really into a craft that involved using tubes of paints to write/decorate on fabric (can't remember what it was called). We were going to my cousins' house for a visit so I decided to make them pillowcases. I drew a picture on each one and then, in the hemmed area on the edge, I wrote Sweet Dreams...except...I wrote Sweat Dreams. I really hope the pillowcase didn't live up to its sentiment!

 

[Mickey Fliers]

Not to add fuel to the fire, but even if the "imagined dialogue" did indeed try to mimic Ebonics or evoke a certain race, that does not make the imaginary dialogue "racist". For something to be racist, there needs to be a belief of superiority, intolerance or hatred. I got none of that from the OP.

 

[Mickey'sMainMami]

Yes, but was it in his handwriting ?

No, he ordered them over the phone. You would think they would have spell check.

 

[robinb]

Not to add fuel to the fire, but even if the "imagined dialogue" did indeed try to mimic Ebonics or evoke a certain race, that does not make the imaginary dialogue "racist". For something to be racist, there needs to be a belief of superiority, intolerance or hatred. I got none of that from the OP.

I want to make it clear that I never thought that the OP was racist herself. I know her from other threads and never got a raciest vibe from her before and she has said here that she imagined an ignorant white person as the Wal*Mart employee. That being said, the whole joke is about how dumb the Wal*Mart employee was and makes the reader feel superior. I would say that most jokes make the reader or hearer feel superior (blond jokes, for instance) and IMO the Ebonics language makes it raciest.

After I mentioned the blond jokes I suddenly started to imagine the conversation myself in Valley Girl speak, but I'll just leave that to everyone else's imagination .

 

[FoggyToad]

I needed that laugh! Thank you!

 

[paigevz]

I will have to ask my friend for the picture, but she ordered a birthday cake recently from Publix for her daughter's 8th birthday. Publix gives a clear plastic cake knife with cakes IF you ask for it. So, after ordering the cake and all that goes with it, she mention, "don't forget the spatula."

Yep, You got it, it said:

Happy Birthday Courtney

Dont forget the spatula

Wow have those boys grown up!

I'll have to say, when I read the OP my first thought was, "Gee, she's brave to be so blatant about making up imaginary dialogue that is so obviously black Ebonic-style dialect."

The cake is funny - and I know there are all sorts of people of all races who just aren't smart enough to interpret things like this by using their common senese. And I'm sure a lot of them work at Wal-Mart.

But the OP's made up conversation struck me as blatant and obvious.

I actually pictured Rocky Balboa when I read it.

Not to add fuel to the fire, but even if the "imagined dialogue" did indeed try to mimic Ebonics or evoke a certain race, that does not make the imaginary dialogue "racist". For something to be racist, there needs to be a belief of superiority, intolerance or hatred. I got none of that from the OP.

Good point.

Btw, not all who work at Walmart are "stupid" or "ignorant" as some have said here. Some people just haven't had access to the education others have had through a combination of circumstances. This limits where they can work. AND, we do need retail people!

 

[luvmy2sams]

Thanks for the laugh, OP!

Only the DIS could take a funny cake decorating story and turn it into a debate on what type of racism, if any, occurred in the post.

 

[meandtheguys2]

Awww...but how boring would the thread be without conversation. Just a couple of pages of emoticons laughing, and it would have died away by now...

There isn't anything wrong with thinking, and discussing. People shouldn't be so fearful of those that believe differently.

 

[Poohnatic]

Thanks for the cake, Mom.

I didn't know I was leaving!

Suzanne

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

I wasn't referring to that part. I was talking about:

'He޲llo޲ 'di޲s be Wal޲mar޲ts,޲ how޲ can޲ I hep޲s you޲?'
and
'Wh޲atc޲ha wan޲t on dis޲ cak޲e?'޲

Why would you assume that this is a black person being portrayed? There are very few black people in my town but there are lots of people who speak like this. It seems to me that the writer of the "imaginary conversation" was just trying to portray someone with poor grammar, which was consistent with the poor grammar that ended up on the cake.

Oh, I'm sorry - I thought you had copied the picture from an email but made up the conversation yourself. I'm really sorry to have misinterpreted that!!!

But, c'mon, "dis be Wlamarts" is pretty clear to me. That's not something Jeff Foxworthy ever used in his comedy - it's the way people write and mock when they want to sound like an uneducated black person.

There's no "looking for it to be racist" at all - it just is.

So, if the joke was different and you interpreted the writer as portraying someone who was clearly white with poor grammar, that would be racist too, right?

 

[BabyPiglet]

Not to add fuel to the fire (honestly) but why all the bad remarks about Wal-Mart employees in general?

I know at my local WM it's mostly a bunch of kids working part-time for a little extra money.

I think while you guys were focusing on if black people were or were not disrespected, you actually started to disrespect WM employees.

 

[Mr. & Mrs. Smith]

Not to add fuel to the fire (honestly) but why all the bad remarks about Wal-Mart employees in general?

I know at my local WM it's mostly a bunch of kids working part-time for a little extra money.

I think while you guys were focusing on if black people were or were not disrespected, you actually started to disrespect WM employees.

I haven't been to a Wal-Mart in years but I can tell you that they don't exactly hold high standards for their employees. (I have a DSIL and DMIL who work their right now.) They don't respect their employees and it shows in the type of customer service that is delivered. So, in that respect, I really don't expect much from Wal-Mart employees and that's exactly what I used to get when I shopped there - not much.

 

[BabyPiglet]

I haven't been to a Wal-Mart in years but I can tell you that they don't exactly hold high standards for their employees. (I have a DSIL and DMIL who work their right now.) They don't respect their employees and it shows in the type of customer service that is delivered. So, in that respect, I really don't expect much from Wal-Mart employees and that's exactly what I used to get when I shopped there - not much.

Okay, I respect your opinion. I just have a different one.

Maybe I'm taking it personal because I just got a job there. (Btw, I'm only 16. This is my first job, I'm just looking to do something other than sit around the house all day. I'm already graduated.) But everyone seemed very friendly. And I see it as disrespectful to make generalizations that all WM employees are dumb or uneducated.