My supervisor in the City of Bellingham Finance Office was Naomi, a young, black woman of Barbados descent. She was very attractive. Being my supervisor, Naomi tried always to be dignified and maintain a superior attitude in the office, and with my mischievousness and immature humor, she had little trouble.
But we had a mutual friend, Kathy, who also worked in the office and who had recently moved into our mobile home court by Lake Whatcom, so one day Naomi came out for a get-together. Naomi and Kathy and Kathy's daughter and my family and I all went down to the beach. Most of us went swimming, but Naomi dared only to wade, not having brought a swimsuit, and wearing a T-shirt with no bra underneath.
After a bit, I felt sorry for Naomi having to wait it out while we enjoyed ourselves swimming. She had managed to wade into water reaching up to the bottom of her shorts, and I went to her, took her by the hands and began slowly to pull her out into deeper water. She tried to hold back, but I kept backing up. "Dale, I'm not wearing a bra," she warned me, and I smiled, and kept backing up. As she reached the point at which she'd be welcome in any wet-T-shirt contest, she gritted her teeth and muttered, "You bastard." Returning to the beach, I'm sure she was thinking of ways to get back at me in the office, as I was delightfully gaining a new appreciation for my supervisor's great figure.
But Naomi probably forgot any desire for vengeance she had towards me on the day she went up to meet a lady at the counter. I was sitting behind her at my desk, as Naomi asked, "May I help you?" And it sounded to me like the lady replied, "I guess so. You're black enough."
No, no, nooooo, I thought to myself. I didn't just hear what I thought I heard. No way.
Naomi seemed very quiet and short with the lady as she did whatever business the lady came in for, and as the lady left, Naomi turn around stunned and asked me, "Did you hear what she said?"
"She really said that?!" I asked. Neither of us could comprehend such blatant prejudice, in western Washington State of all places! I stood up and talked with her, trying somehow to cheer her up, but unable to do much more than shake my head in disbelief. Charlotte, a fat lady with a southern accent, who worked in the Municipal Court Office adjacent to us, came up and asked us what was wrong. And so Naomi and I told her the whole story. Charlotte also shook her head as she listened, and then, before walking away, to make Naomi feel better, said reassuringly, "Well, you're not as black as some of 'em."
My mouth dropped open as I stepped back, and as Charlotte trotted off, Naomi turned around and gave me a helpless look, then rolled her eyes. She was very quiet the rest of the day. And I suppose I was, too.
Some people can come out of a lake, looking very beautiful. But there are obviously others who should go jump in the lake.
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For the complete contents of the Butter Rum Cartoon, click HERE.
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