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3PM I Am So Suing Myself
Intern #1: That whole team is full of white receivers.
Intern #2: What's wrong with white receivers?
Intern #1: They're slow, man. I hate to be racist, but they are slow.
Intern #2: Yeah...
Intern #1: Hey, can I be racist against my own race?
1555 Pearl Street
Boulder, Colorado
9AM A Description Best Reserved for Martha Stewart
Black woman, before an interview: I'll let you do the talkin', 'cause you're a code cracker.
White dude: ... What?!
Black woman: You know -- you can read between the lines and figure out if she's telling the truth.
White dude: I thought you just called me a 'cold crackah'!
SW Grapevine Parkway
Grapevine, Texas
Overheard by: The real cold cracker
12PM Except for Michael Jackson
Lady peon with eye patch: Yeah... Once you go black, you never go back.
45th Avenue and Vermont Street
Portland, Oregon
Overheard by: WOW
9AM Someone's Been Listening to State of the Union Addresses Again
Waitress #1: What's with your couple at table five? It's impossible to tell how old they are. They could be in their 20s or 50s.
Waitress #2: That's 'cause they're foreign. All foreign people look like vampires.
River Street
Savannah, Georgia
11AM Ma'am This Is the New South
Old white lady: Excuse me, where do you keep your knickers?
White supervisor, nervously: What? I don't have any...
Clothing store
Ocala, Florida
12PM At Least There's No Visible Cameltoe
Sales agent, about Arab Muslim client on phone: Jesus Christ, is it those people with the capes again?!
745 Boylston Street
Boston, Massachusetts
9AM How'd They Get There from the West?
Peon: I think she's Indian.
Boss: American Indian? We don't have a lot of those!
Peon: No, Asian Indian.
Boss: They have Indians in Asia?!
5th and Market Streets
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
10AM Wonder If I've Overplayed That Card Yet
Secretary #1: Here, I'll trade you dark chocolate for my chocolate.
Secretary #2: No, I like dark chocolate.
Secretary #1: Why does the white man have to take all the dark chocolate? That's the last piece of dark chocolate, and I'm dark so I should eat it! You ate all the white chocolate last week because you're white, and now you're going to have all the dark chocolate, too, just like the white man does to everything!
Secretary #2, eating dark chocolate: It's all mine now. Look at this! [Opens mouth.]
Secretary #1, muttering to herself and walking away: Just like the white man...
11330 Pierce Street
Riverside, California
Overheard by: Kevin
12PM Stupid Cracker
Executive: Where's the resume I asked for? Where's Bashir's* resume? Goddammit, I can't find that idiot's resume. Stupid Indian.
Assistant: [Silent.]
Executive: So anyways, have you been following this Don Imus thing?
420 Lexington Avenue
New York, New York
12PM Well, Now You're Just Bragging
Defense attorney at deposition: ... And before the accident, about how many times per month were you intimate with your wife?
Plaintiff: Um, probably upper 20s.
Defense attorney, incredulous: Upper 20s?!
Plaintiff: Yeah. My wife is Latin.
9th Street
Sacramento, California
10AM He's Modeled after That Guy from Chasing Amy
Peon #1: Where's Kevin* today?
Peon #2: What is it, Thursday? Guess it depends on whether he's black or gay today.
Hopkinsville, Kentucky
Overheard by: will1966
1PM Enlighten Me about the Vietnamese While I Jot Down Notes
Newbie: Are you Chinese or Japanese?
Korean working the register: What?! Japanese are rich, ignorant fools, and Chinese are murderous barbarians. I am Korean!
Newbie: Oh. I never knew that...
Korean deli, 1700 Research Boulevard
Rockville, Maryland
Overheard by: Septimus
2PM I Myself Am a Pepperoni-American
Professor: America is a melting pot.
Dude: America is not a melting pot... It's more of a Lunchable. We are all in the same place, but we keep to our own little compartments.
1906 College Heights Boulevard
Bowling Green, Kentucky
Overheard by: hyacinth_hunter
3PM "You Are Beautiful in a Way That's Unfamiliar to Me" Would Be Okay
Financial analyst: Guys will say, 'Oh, Asian women are so exotic,' like we're a commodity. I'm not a rug!
Wall Street
New York, New York
11AM And He Said, "I'd Prefer Reparations"
White HR director: I've never touched someone's head like that before! I touched it, and it was all wavy. I told him, you're the first African-American person's head I've ever touched. You should feel honored.
8900 Kelso Drive
Baltimore, Maryland
Overheard by: Just an office girl...
1PM You're on Thin, Black Ice
White grunt #1: I'm going to the deli. You guys want anything?
Black grunt: I'll wait till lunch.
White grunt #2: Can you spot me a cup of coffee? This time with cream and sugar?
White grunt #1: I thought you were a black man.
White grunt #2: I am a black man.
Black grunt: Shit.
New York, New York
10AM But the First Step Is Not Admitting You Have a Problem
Staffer: I just left Publix and my cashier's name was Kartoon.
HR manager: Oh, yeah! My wife was telling me about her. Do you think her parents meant to name her 'Khartoum,' after the country in Africa?
Staffer: I don't know. Maybe it's just a popular name from her parents' native country.
HR manager: Oh, you mean she's not black?
Staffer: What? No, she's Asian.
HR manager: Oh. Was I stereotyping just now?
Staffer: Ummm, yeah, a little bit... You are so in the right profession.
Office
Hilton Head, South Carolina
11AM You Could Still Take a Black Lover
Office peon #1: I met my husband in Ireland, but he's from South Africa originally.
Office peon #2: You're going to have such beautiful babies.
Office peon #1: Well, I think so, but why do you?
Office peon #2: Half-black babies are always beautiful.
Office peon #1: My husband isn't black.
Office peon #2: He's not?
Office peon #3: Sally*, not everyone in South Africa is black. In fact, the majority of South Africans are white. Haven't you heard of apartheid?
Office peon #2: Yeah, I guess.
Town Street
Columbus, Ohio
5PM Well, Except for Everybody Else
Kid: You know, if Europe and the US teamed together the entire world could be white.
675 27th Street
Chicago, Illinois
4PM Though Apparently That's Not a Prerequisite for This Office
Old white coworker about interviewee: Did you talk to her?
Receptionist: Yeah, she seemed good.
Old white coworker: Black woman, right?
Receptionist: Yeah.
Old white coworker: Oooh, they're sharp! Well, when they're sharp, they're sharp!
Receptionist: Um... okay...
Horsham, Pennsylvania
Overheard by: alxie
12PM Always Playing the Wushu Card
White coworker: We should go on the walking trail after work sometime.
Asian coworker: Yeah, that sounds like fun!
White coworker: I would feel safer with you because no one would attack us because they would think you know kung-fu.
Asian coworker: [Silence.]
Fayetteville, Arkansas
3PM Then My Work Here Is Done
Boss talking about movie Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: And he sees the body out of the corner of his eye just when you're thinking that, and he turns and pees on it...
Female cube rat: We just had a seminar on our sexual harassment policy, and I am offended by that. I should report you.
Boss: Go ahead, I have pictures and emails.
Male cube rat: Do we have an official blackmail policy?
Black male cube rat: I take offense to that.
1771 N Street
Washington, DC
Overheard by: afraid to speak
2PM Wait Until He Realizes They Aren't Talking about Turkey
Chick: Who was that?
Guy: He works for one of our other brands. Isn't he hot?
Chick: Very handsome. Is he Indian or black?
Guy: Black.
Chick: Dark meat's the best.
Guy: I haven't done that yet.
Chick: Really? You haven't lived!
575 5th Avenue
New York, New York
Overheard by: Thompson
9AM Another Good Job Lost to Illegal Aliens
Customer, softly: Uh, someone pooped on the floor in the ladies' room.
Hostess: Ewww!
Manager: I'll get a Mexican.
Restaurant, Circle Centre Mall
Indianapolis, Indiana
Overheard by: Shatmandu
9AM I Guess I Did Mean to Sound Racist
White coworker: Hey, I don't mean to sound racist or anything, but are you Haitian?
Black coworker: Yeah, I am... But why is that racist?
White coworker: Because Haitians are dirty.
Outside Palms restaurant
Okinawa
Japan
11AM Native Americans: Jeez, Even the Bigots Ignore Us!
CEO to new sales rep: Use your judgment when it comes to payment schedules. If they sound like good people -- you know, like normal Americans on the phone -- we'll bill them. But Ay-rabs and Orientals pay COD. You have to watch those bastards, 'cause they'll all fuck you.
1190 North Del Rio Place
Ontario, California
Overheard by: Really glad I gave notice yesterday
12PM Homer Simpson: You Say That Like It's a Bad Thing
Video editor: I don't think we can use any of this stuff with these yellow people at all... Stupid yellow people. [Shocked coworker stares.] No, no, no! The color of the footage is all out-- Everyone looks yellow!
108th Street and Broadway
New York, New York
Overheard by: Tigertail
9AM I'm Too Old to Change, Baby
Old lady: Where is your nigger food?
Stocker: Uh, excuse me?
Old lady: You know, the nigger food. The black bird food.
Stocker: You mean the Niger seed?
Old lady: That's what I said, the nigger seed.
3803 Venture Drive
Duluth, Georgia
Overheard by: I recommend the chink pellets
10AM Why We Can't Wait
Recruit: This friend of mine is having a party Sunday. I can't decide whether or not to go.
Coworker: Why wouldn't you?
Recruit: It's in honor of Martin Luther King, Junior.
Coworker: What's wrong with that?
Recruit: Well, it's a lingerie party.
Coworker: Oh...
13th Street and Peachtree Street
Atlanta, Georgia
Overheard by: I have a dream
9AM (Sob!) All Right, I Admit It, He's Columbian!
Hispanic lady: My husband just called to let me know that he's cooking dinner for me tonight -- it'll be ready when I get home.
Black guy: That's bullshit. He's just full of Budweiser, wantin' you to come home and all.
Hispanic lady: My husband don't drink no more!
Black guy: Bullshit!
Hispanic lady: No, really! He stopped drinking and smoking 10 years ago!
Black guy: Well, if he don't drink then he ain't no Mexican. That's all they do!
Houston, Texas
4PM Specifically, Vinegar and Onion Pringles
White girl: So, what do you mean you guys don't have stockings on Christmas?
Hispanic girl: Spanish people's Christmas is more about expensive electronic gifts.
White girl: I just don't understand -- you also use all new decorations every year.
Hispanic girl: Yeah, we don't really do tradition well.
White girl: Spanish people are weird.
Black girl: Yeah, well, white girls smell like potato chips.
789 Howard Avenue
New Haven, Connecticut
10AM Rent Mean Girls and Adjust the Contrast?
Teacher #1: I really need a video to show my kids after they finish their final. Do you have one I could borrow?
Teacher #2: Oh? Well, let's see... What were you thinking about?
Teacher #1: Have anything with angsty kids? Oooh, especially angsty black kids? They love those.
Alabama
Overheard by: Saving the drama for my momma
9AM Mengele's Genetic Experiments Finally Bear Fruit
Engineer: Is your boss in? We have a problem -- we have a little Aryan friend up on the second floor.
QA tech: No, he's on vacation... Wait -- we have what?
Engineer: A little Aryan friend flying around on the second floor.
QA tech: ... Ohhh -- 'avian.'
Engineer: Yeah, what did I say?
Modesto, California
Overheard by: That's not my job.
12PM That Still Doesn't Explain the Grill
Worker #1: German Shepherds used to terrorize the Congolese when the British were colonizing. That's one of the reasons that the Congolese didn't like George Foreman when he fought there.
Worker #2: Oh, I thought you were going to say that is why black people don't like dogs.
Sears Tower
Chicago, Illinois
9AM While I'm a Cornell Grad
White customer pointing at Filipino bag boy: Is he black, or is he white?! I just can't tell...
Cashier: Um, he's Filipino.
White customer: I don't care what religion he is, I just wanna know his race.
Cashier: He's Filipino.
White customer: No wonder you're just a cashier.
Piggly Wiggly
Farmville, North Carolina
2PM Plus, We're the Villains in Different Bond Movies
Coworker #1: Teach me how to say something dirty in Bulgarian.
Coworker #2: I'm not Bulgarian, I'm Bosnian.
Coworker #1: What's the difference?
Coworker #3: Are you Mexican?
Coworker #1: Hell no!
Coworker #3: That's the difference.
2157 Main Street
Buffalo, New York
10AM What I Meant to Say Was I'm Pro Racial Segregation
Girl: I don't know, I just hate it when they mixed the coloreds and the whites.
Random passerby: What?
Girl, loudly: What? Ohhh! I mean Christmas lights! I swear. I like houses that are all decorated the same way.
Friend: Just stop talking.
Girl: I am such a dipshit.
43 Leonard Street
Belmont, Massachusetts
Overheard by: i was confused too
9AM And for My Presentation, I'll Be Performing 'Bop Gun'
Third grader: Hey, for our project do we gotta write about a black person?
Teacher: No, you don't have to write about a black person.
Third grader: My mom wants me to write about George Clinton.
Teacher: Do you mean Bill Clinton?
Third grader: Nah, I meant Thomas Jefferson.
Teacher: Oh, he's okay.
7th Street & Sansom Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Overheard by: Teacher Noga
3PM We Won't Be at Work on That Day, Smart Guy
Black coworker: Oh, it's Hanukkah! That's why I keep seeing so many Jews around.
Jewish coworker: What the fuck? You just wait until Martin Luther King day and see what I say to you...
42nd Street and Park Avenue
New York, New York
4PM There's a Rumor They're All Cylons
Coworker: Tell the intern to do that.
Boss: The intern? She has a name.
Coworker: You know who I meant.
Boss: It's Rebecca*! Let's not be racist.
Coworker: Interns aren't a race!
Wilshire Boulevard
Los Angeles, California
5PM And Just Like That, Alan's Frame of Reference Exploded
Interviewer: So, I see from your resume that you spent two years in Africa with the Peace Corps.
Interviewee: Yes.
Interviewer: Did you work with any minorities there?
Worcester, Massachusetts
Overheard by: I was the minority
3PM Yeah, It's a Cracker Thing. You Wouldn't Understand.
Paralegal #1: Don't you remember Zweiback cookies when you were little?
Paralegal #2: Uh, no.
Associate: You white people are into different things.
180 Maiden Lane
New York, New York
1PM Mom, I'd Like You to Meet My Girlfriend... Shaniqua
Mom: The neighbor found out you're gay.
Daughter: What did she say?
Mom: She doesn't care. Her son is gay and her daughter's dating a black guy.
Daughter: What does her daughter dating a black have to do with it?
Mom: Well, I would rather my daughter was a lesbian than date a black guy.
8741 W Saginaw Highway
Lansing, Michigan
Overheard by: barista
1PM 'Color Melanin Jones'
Girl: So I have this friend with an eight-month-old baby, and she named him 'Color.' It's a little weird, because the baby's dad is African-American... But the baby looks really white, so that makes it better.
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
4PM She's Seen All of Edward G. Robinson's Films
White rich girl leaving mall with friends: I am so much more gangsta than you!
Mall
Des Moines, Iowa
Overheard by: Am I Really in Iowa?
9AM Mariah Carey?
Coworker on phone: Quick, think of a biracial vegetable!
Seattle, Washington
5PM Deleted Adrian Dialogue from Rocky
Woman #1: My boyfriend is Italian. That's as good as fucking a black man, but without the racial drama.
Woman #2: I thought Italian men were dumb.
Woman #1: Exactly.
Forest Avenue
Paramus, New Jersey
Overheard by: Office Manager
4PM Just Singe the Page a Bit
Company president: I love the photo [of a blonde girl on the beach] you used on this brochure. It's perfect. But can you keep the same photo and just make her black instead?
Columbia, South Carolina
Overheard by: Office Peon
11AM Dude, It's a Big Continent
White professional #1: Did you know that there's a coming of age ceremony in Africa where the nephew has to blow the uncle?
White professional #2: No, there isn't!
White professional #1: Yes, there is, I swear... [Turns to African-American coworker] Right, Kareem?
Indianapolis, Indiana
Overheard by: Hermitage
2PM The Klan Has Fallen on Hard Times
Ghetto girl on cell: Whitey snuck into my apartment and set my alarm clock off by 12 hours! I ain't never snuck into no white person's house and put poison in they're food! But Whitey's oppressin' me. Whitey snuck into my apartment while I was in the shower and stole my underwear! While I was in the shower!
545 Bus
Outside Seattle, Washington
12PM Could We Talk about Baltimore Again, Please?
White coworker: So, you're from Baltimore, right?
Black coworker: No, everyone thinks all there is to Maryland is Baltimore. I'm actually from a small town called Upper Marlboro, which is closer to D.C.
White coworker: Really? Baltimore is cool. Is where you're from like Baltimore?
Black coworker: Oh, no, it's very different. In fact, people from Baltimore don't like people from P.G. so much. They say we're bourgeois, stuck up, and that we act like white people. But we don't act white, we just have money.
29th Street
New York, New York
Overheard by: Laughing inside
10AM Wow, You Must Be the Coolest Cracker in Arizona
Guy: I used to work in an inner city office.
Girl: Really?
Guy: Yeah, I learned lots of words from them. Like 'booyah'. It means 'good.' Like, 'That is booyah!'
Tucson, Arizona
Overheard by: The Intern
12PM Why Can't You Be Like Mulan? She Was Asian, but She Could Take a Punch!
Asian coworker to black coworker: Why can't you be like Akeelah in Akeelah and the Bee? She was black, but she could spell!
235 E 42nd Street
New York, New York
1PM Also, I Hung up That One Corpse
Secretary : The guys who clean my yard never take any off my plants, because I threaten them, I say 'If you touch anything, I'll kill you!' And they never touch anything since then. Because they're Haitians, and you know, Haitians scare easy.
1252 Memorial Drive
Coral Gables, Florida
3PM What They Use to Mix Cocktails in the 'Hood
Foreign coworker: What is a 'jigga'?
Male coworker: I don't know, I'm Turkish.
Female coworker: I don't know, I'm White.
44th Street and 5th Avenue
New York, New York
2PM He Showed up When She Ordered a Half-Italian on White
Waitress: My boyfriend is half Italian but he is mostly white.
Cucamonga, California
Overheard by: halfbreed
5PM That Reminds me, I have to go let Mom out of the Stocks
Hick coworker #1: There was nuthin' wrong with slavery. My family had slaves. They was like family.
Hick coworker #2: I know, I agree. My family's slaves didn't leave after emaciation because they were happy. We treated them like family.
Athens, Georgia
Overheard by: Happy I moved to a blue state
3PM Which Means I Don't Understand the Question
Mortgage rep: And, finally, may I ask you what race you are? Caucasian, African-American...
Customer: I'm Canadian.
Fairfield County, Connecticut
2PM Well, Yes, But Only on an Evolutionary Time Scale
Young white girl: You need to wear sunscreen. My mommy told me that skin gets dark if you don't wear sunscreen.
Young black girl: I was BORN dark.
Young black boy: Me, too.
Young white girl: Really?
Young black boy: I wear sunscreen, too.
Young white girl: You were born that way? So it's not the sun? Really?
Preschool
Austin, Texas
Overheard by: Amused Pre-K teacher
10AM The Last Event He Remembers Clearly Is V-J Day
Old man: Excuse me.
CD store employee: Yes.
Old man: Where do you keep your Negro music?
CD store employee: What?
Old man: Your Negro music!
Grandson: He means rap music.
CD store employee: Oh, over there.
1st Avenue North
Seattle, Washington
4PM So White She Doesn't Know What's Happened to the N-Word
White girl: Jesus, I just got called a nigger!
Filipino girl: What? On your break?
White girl: Yeah! And by a black person. Homeless. Wouldn't give her money. I'm about as cracker as you get... total whitey. I mean, I'm wearing Banana Republic.
1900 Broadway
Oakland, California
3PM Nope, Just Thought You Might Need Help Getting That Desk onto Your Truck
Assistant: Are you stealing things already?
Marketing rep: Are you saying that because I'm black?
9401 West Brown Deer Road
Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Overheard by: T
11AM Solitaire Is a Conspiracy by the Black Man to Undermine White Productivity
Employee #1: Blacks, blacks everywhere! Stupid blacks! I can't do anything with them. They just take over.
Employee #2: Cletus*, quit playing solitaire and do some work.
Downtown
Missoula, Montana
Overheard by: non-profit ninja
1PM Even in the Black Hills You See White People
Aussie: Is Motown a black state?
American: Uh, actually Motown is a nickname for Detroit, and a record label.
Aussie: Is Detroit a black state?
American: No, it's a city.
Aussie: Is Tennessee a black state?
American: Whaaa... there's no such thing as a black state.
Aussie: There isn't?
Reservoir Street
Sydney, Australia
Overheard by: Yank Down Under
10AM He Was Much Worse Before the Diversity Training
Suit: You're Asian, so I bet you want tea. We Americans like our morning coffee.
Asian interviewee #1: No, I had Starbucks on the way here.
Suit: We Americans like milk in our coffee. Asians drink it black, right?
Asian interviewee #2: No, I take mine light and sweet.
Suit: Well, you still wanna work here, right?
Midtown
New York, New York
Overheard by: Laughing in America
10AM Next You'll Be Claiming People Lived in Mexico Before the Spanish Colonized It!
Customer: That's a pretty name. Different.
Cashier: Yeah, you don't see it much up here. It's Mexican.
Customer: Don't you mean it's Spanish?
Cashier: No, it's Mexican in origin.
Customer: Racist.
Sprague and Sullivan
Spokane, Washington
Overheard by: It's this whole other country
3PM Turn Racism into a Fun Office Game!
Coworker #1: I would have been up all night with my shotgun.
Coworker #2: Why? The cops already had the perpetrator.
Coworker #1: Whatever, you're just saying that because he was black... otherwise he would have just been a suspect.
Coworker #2: Ummm, the guy was white. I never said he was black. All I said was he wasn't wearing shoes.
Pacific Drive
Lexington Park, Maryland
Overheard by: Perpetrators
9AM In the Future, Black People Will Get to Do Things While Whitey Pays to Watch
Black co-worker: Hey, how are you doing today?
Redneck co-worker: If I were you, I wouldn't speak to me today.
Black co-worker: Why is that? What's wrong with you?
Redneck co-worker: I'm not too fond of you black people today. That damn Tiger Woods has won another Major.
Black co-worker: Oh, that's all? Well, what are you going to do when we take over NASCAR?
Redneck co-worker: [Bewildered silence]
1000 Jerry St. Pe Highway
Gulf Coast, Mississippi
Overheard by: The Guy sitting next to the idiot
1PM Luckily All the Prejudice is Concentrated in Mississippi, Where We Can Keep an Eye on It
Co-Worker: You should move to Mississippi, so your children won't have to go to school with all those black kids. But people in Mississippi are really prejudiced though...
Memphis, Tennessee
2PM They Prefer to Be Called...Um... Something Different This Year
Older woman #1: What are you going to do while you're here?
Young man: Oh, I'm gonna shop like a mofo!
Older woman #1: Mofo? What is that?
Older woman #2: What does that mean?
Young man: Uh...it, uh...means I'm gonna shop a lot!
Older woman #2: Oh...Is that a Negro term?
Victoria, British Columbia
Canadia
Overheard by: J. Max
12PM Although, Ordinarily, that Would Be Enough
Co-Worker #1: That new guy is kind of creepy, like he's going to come in and shoot up the place.
Co-Worker #2: Yeah, I know, he's just plain scary.
Co-Worker #1: ...and not because he's brown.
17th Avenue SW
Calgary, Alberta
Canadia
Overheard by: Dispatch God
1PM Cat Burglars and Ninjas Have Ruined Blackness For Everyone
Black guy: What would you say if I said I wanted to get a Mystic Tan?
Tanning consultant: Oh, you could. It would give you a nice glow.
Black guy: You're not even going to discourage me?! I would never get a spray on tan. The blacker you are, the higher people assume your crime rate is.
North 222 Plaza
Reading, Pennsylvania
12PM Let Me Explain: She Called You Inbred, and He Called You Illiterate
White guy: I come from a town of only 400.
Black girl: Whoa! That's weird. Your town was probably started by a brother and sister or something.
White guy: Actually, there's not a single brotha or sista in my town.
Black girl: What?
White girl: Oh, God.
Black girl: What do you mean? Is everyone in your town an only child?
White guy: No, there aren't any brothuhs or sistuhs. You know?
Black girl: I don't get it.
White girl: That's probably for the best.
One Park Place
Elmira, New York
Overheard by: Shannon
1PM Those Who Watch the Discovery Channel Should Not Be Allowed to Discuss It at Work
Female co-worker #1: So, I watched this special on TV about how some people are born with two distinct sets of DNA. They had a guy on it that was half white and half black.
Female co-worker #2: Having one black nut and one white nut would be awesome.
Female co-worker #1: Um, yeah.
2600 McHale Court
Austin, Texas
Overheard by: John da peon
5PM And Sales Girls Prefer to Be Called 'Customer Revenue Facilitators' But Keep Dreaming
Sales girl #1: Hey, guys, there are two Oriental ladies walking to the back. Help them if you can.
Sales girl #2: We Orientals prefer to be called "Asians."
South Coast Plaza
Costa Mesa, California
Overheard by: another oriental
12PM One Starbucks Holds a Hundred Wongs and One White
Manager: Ok, I don't mean to sound weird, but...
Receptionist #1: Oh, this is gonna be good.
Manager: I was at Starbucks on the 4th of July, and...it was all Asians! It was an Asian invasion! They were everywhere! I was going to ask if they were having a family reunion. Then someone else walked in the door, and [my 14-year-old daughter] nudged me, and it was another Asian! I've told [my daughter], "Ok, you can marry a Muslim! A black! A Jew! Just don't bring home an Asian!" They travel in packs and take pictures! And they are the worst drivers! Any time you see a bad driver swerving, weaving in and out of lanes? Asian! But, I mean, my tennis partner is Asian, so...
Receptionist #1: Becky*, you're a racist!
Manager: I'm not a racist...just to Asians!
An Asian client walks in.
Receptionist #2: Hi, Mr. Wong*!
4020 NE 55th Street
Seattle, Washington
9AM And What With UPN Off the Air...
Employee: I'm tired of seeing movies that are just, like, The Adventures of White People.
Kane Hall, University of Washington
Seattle, Washington
Overheard by: Anonymous
11AM But We Totally Whine Better
Male co-worker: That's the thing about black people. They'll just sing their favorite song out loud. Like they don't care that they're in public.
Female co-worker: Well, that's because they have better voices than we do.
1000 Techwood
Atlanta, Georgia
11AM I Banged Them Both, Though.
Admin: Do you know who dropped this off?
Manceptionist: No
Admin: Well, then do you know what they looked like?
Manceptionist: An old white lady with curly hair.
Admin: Are you sure she wasn't a black man, because Allan* said it was a forty-year-old black guy.
Office manager: Not unless he rolled himself in baby powder before he came in here.
Manceptionist: No. The black guy dropped off a manilla envelope and the old lady dropped off that.
Admin: This is a manilla envelope.
Manceptionist: Oh, then yeah the black guy dropped it off.
Allan: Well the black guy was definitely more attractive.
Office manager: And now we know which way you swing.
3520 Lancaster Avenue
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2PM Diversity Initiative
Secretary: Hey, I haven't seen you for a while. You been on vacation?
Associate: No, I've been here.
Secretary: I just love running into you. You look just like that guy from Whose Line Is It Anyway. That black guy...What's his name?
Associate: Oh, really? No one's ever told me that before.
Secretary: It's ok, right? Because he's my favorite.
1425 K Street NW
Washington DC
Overheard by: callmeahab
12PM Lunch
Woman on phone: Mom, tell my brother that if he doesn't pick up his car, I'm gonna have it towed.
[pause]
Woman on phone: Because I don't want it parked in front of my house.
[pause]
Woman on phone: Because I don't want to advertise to the entire neighborhood that black people live here.
465 Main Street
Charlestown, Massachusetts
9AM Back to Work
Supervisor to dark-skinned Indian employee: Were you out much this weekend? You are so tan.
473 Ridge Road
Dayton, New Jersey
Overheard by: office peon
12PM Lunch
Engineer: So, did you enjoy your Cinco de Mayo?
Secretary: Um. I was in Rhode Island for the weekend...
Engineer: Yeah, so?
Secretary: Ever been?
Engineer: Yeah, couple of times... what's your point?
Secretary: Heh. Rhode Island is like the white-bread capital, at least the part where I go is.
Engineer: Okaayyy... so there was no Cinco de Mayo celebration?
Secretary: Dude, lemme put it this way for ya: It's so damn white up there, they have white gardeners. Mexicans are like freakin' nonexistant up there. And don't even get me started on the nonexistance of black people. Hell, the last time I saw a black person while I was up there was the one we brought with us. . .and she kept singin' "Massa got me workin'" just to freak the rest of the whities out.
One Penn Plaza
New York, New York
Overheard by: *snicker*
4PM Asset Management
Boss: Chinese women have no asses. They dream of having a big round ass. Like a black ass. You see that? That is a big black ass.
9925 Jefferson Boulevard
Culver City, California
Overheard by: Roland Kellar
3PM Returning Calls
Boss on the phone: Thanks, hon.
Assistant overhearing: Black people don't like to be called "hon" because of the slavery days, as if they were ever really slaves.
Boss: It's okay, she wasn't black.
1403 Poplar Road
Newnan, Georgia
2PM Diversity Initiative
African-American co-worker: So, maybe you can help me out with this, are Italians black or Latino?
Italian-American co-worker: I'm white. Just white, man.
African American co-worker: Maybe you didn't understand the question.
4800 University Drive
Durham, North Carolina
12PM Lunch
African-American co-worker to Caucasian co-worker: You just walked a block through the ghetto to get some chicken? Did you get a five-piece and some biscuits? That's so black of you.
1555 Central Parkway
Cincinnati, Ohio
12PM Talk with HR
Co-worker #1: [Anna] is really mean.
Co-worker #2: It's because of her race.
Co-worker #1: What? Her race?
Co-worker #2: Yeah, whatever she is; they're all like that.
171 17th Street NW
Atlanta, Georgia
2PM Collate Receipts
Boss: Find anything interesting?
Employee: Yeah. Mexicans are bad tippers...Sorry, that was racist. Spanish people are bad tippers.
1100 Vermont Avenue NW
Washington, DC
Overheard by: adrone
9AM Back to Work
Co-worker: She was like, "Nigga, just drop me off at daycare and go about your business."
11100 USA Parkway
Fishers, Indiana
Overheard by: minkey
11AM Monitor Calls
Customer Service Specialist on phone: No, sir. You just had a credit line increase yesterday...Well, sir. That's how the potato chips.
Customer Service Specialist: ...Damn towelhead.
14700 Citicorp Drive
Hagerstown, Maryland
11AM Conference Call
Employee #1: Okay, we'll send an intern over, then.
Employee #2 on speaker: That'd be great. Do you have any Asians?
250 Park Ave South
New York, NY
11AM Damage Control
Co-worker on phone: I'm sorry, can you say that again?...I'm sorry...I'm having some trouble understanding what you're trying to say...Why don't you have your boss call me and we can get this straightened out?
Hangs up.
Co-worker: Just go back to your motherfucking country...Christ.
839 Marshall Phelps Road
Windsor, Connecticut
Overheard by: Douchey Douchelton
10AM Call Collections Dept.
Account Manager: I'm getting more serious getting these people to pay. I've been letting them know if they don't call me back, I'll have to take affirmative action!
General Manager: Do you know what that means?
Account Manager: Yeah! It means I'm serious!
General Manager: No, "affirmative action" is when you give someone a job just because they're a certain minority group or sex.
Account Manager: Oh. I bet they don't know what it means either!
1570 North McMullen Booth Road
Clearwater, Florida
3PM Smoke Break
Worker #1: ...True dat, dawg.
Worker #2: I hate to be the one to break it to you, but you are white.
1400 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2PM Meeting with HR
Co-worker #1: I pretty much hate that stupid nursing consultant.
Co-worker #2: I know. Me too.
Co-worker #1: She's so phony. It's 'cause she's Southern.
Co-worker #2: I know! I hate Southerners! And I'm not even black!
Co-worker #1: Uh...what?
Co-worker #2: Well, you know. The slave thing. Don't you hate her because of the slave thing?
Co-worker #1: Uh, no.
100 West Clarendon Avenue
Phoenix, Arizona
2PM Get Mail
Secretary: The mailman was supposed to come back today, but I haven't seen him yet.
Agent: Which mailman was it? The old guy, or the nerdy guy with the glasses?
Secretary: No, it was an Asian guy.
Agent: Oh. He's probably having lunch again.
1610 SE Bybee Boulevard
Portland, Orgeon
2PM Deliver Invoices to Probation Office
Secretary: There was a black man who lived in my county. He was the only one. We called him Nigger Jim.
Co-worker: What?
Secretary: Oh, it was okay. He called himself that. He was retarded.
Co-worker: Where is he now?
Secretary: Prison.
130 East Main Street
Canton, Georgia
1PM Lunch
Co-worker #1: How was your lunch?
Co-worker #2: It was okay. We had an old Greek waitress. I didn't care for her too much.
Co-worker #1: Was it the fact that she was old or Greek?
Co-worker #2: It was a combination. Greeks are a weird people.
444 Park Avenue South
New York, NY
11AM Conversation with HR
Co-worker #1: Did you know Tony in the German office is Oriental?
Co-worker #2: Asian.
Co-worker #1: What about Asians?
Co-worker #2: You don't say "Oriental"...you say "Asian."
Co-worker #1: Oh, that is so PC. Oriental is fine. I had an Oriental friend once and she didn't mind it.
93 Worcester Street
Wellesley, Massachusetts
Overheard by: Scaught
3PM Smoke Break
Co-worker #1: We're like The A-Team.
Co-worker #2: I get to be BA Baracus since I'm the only black one.
1634 Broadway
New York, NY
12PM Sensitivity Retraining
Co-worker #1: How was the event today?
Co-worker #2: Oh, it was good. The audience was mostly colored, but there were a few white people.
Co-worker #1: ...
444 Park Avenue South
New York, NY
4PM The 3 Day Weekend is Nigh!
Co-worker #1: So, do you get Columbus Day off from school?
Co-worker #2: No, we only get holidays for black people and Jesus.
6101 Broadway Street
San Antonio, Texas
Overheard by: Salena Arledge
2PM Update Customer Database
Co-worker: If someone is from Puerto Rico, do you say that they're Mexican? Or Hispanic?
150 East 55th Street
New York, NY
4PM Meeting
Co-worker: One of the people I was meeting with was Ray Charles...the white, Jewish Ray Charles.
550 Madison Avenue
New York, NY
1PM Lunch
Secretary: Aw, look at you. You look so ethnic today.
Intern: Huh?
Secretary: You look like you should be seating people at a Chinese resturaunt.
Intern: Hey!
Secretary: No, in a good way...
72 Wall Street
New York, NY
3PM Cigarette Break
General Manager: Wait, his ex-wife is white? What color are their children? Beige?
805 3rd Avenue
New York, NY
Overheard by: Eric
11AM Diversity Seminar
Manager: I hate it when black people make a big deal about being black when they accept awards. It's like the Holocaust; they have to get over it.
4189 Route 9
Freehold, New Jersey
Overheard by: Robert Max Freeman
11AM Demographics Analysis
Co-worker #1: "Urban" doesn't mean "black."
Co-worker #2: Yes it does.
9111 East Douglas Avenue
Wichita, Kansas
Overheard by: Nate
9AM She Means an Anti-Aircraft Gun Commander
Elderly secretary: His friend looked like...you know...one of those people who blow up planes.
3 Five Point Road
Freehold, New Jersey
Overheard by: Robert Freeman
1PM Only If It's Casual Friday
Co-worker #1: Hey, do we need to dress up when the Japs show up next week?
Boss: Don't ever refer to them as Japs! That's racist and very offensive. Please refer to them as Japanese instead.
Co-worker #2: Hey, while we're being all culturally sensitive and shit, can I show up to work dressed as a ninja to welcome them to America?
115 Perimeter Center Place, NE
Atlanta, Georgia
12AM Technically, He's for Affirmative Action
Manager: It's just that I don't want any of those old, white computers. The only good ones are black nowadays.
Engineer: That sounds pretty racist...
Manager: Well, I don't care.
41000 Vincenti Court
Novi, Michigan
Overheard by: Stefan Bankowski
12AM When Racial Sensitivity Videos Come to Life
Black co-worker: You smell good; what are you wearing?
White co-worker: White Shoulders. I've worn it since I was sixteen.
Black co-worker: Do they make Black Shoulders?
White co-worker: Oh, we'll let you wear the White. This is America!
175 South Third Street
Columbus, Ohio
8AM Diversity? Never Met Him
Producer: One of the things that came out of the meetings is that they
wanted more diversity.
Consultant: Who?
12 West 27th Street
New York, NY
4PM Seem Like There's a Lot You Don't Know
Engineer #1: Congratulations, I heard you got married this week.
Engineer #2: Thanks, man. It was one of the best days of my life.
Engineer #1: Aren't you African though? I didn't know African people got married.
6575 The Corners Pkwy
Norcross, Georgia
