(Editor’s Note: This story originally published on July 26 has been updated with an interview with an eyewitness, the man who took the video of the incident.)
Stunned bystanders came to the defense of a beleaguered Asian American postal clerk under verbal assault from a customer who twice called her a ch*nk.
Dion Lim of ABC7 News in San Francisco posted a video to Facebook sent to her by a viewer of the incident in the wealthy suburb of Los Altos.
It’s not apparent from the video what set off the customer, but it’s clear those who witnessed it had no sympathy for the lady.
“That’s it. Get rid of me. Can’t you just do your job? It’s simple,” the woman says in a loud voice to the clerk.
“A letter with a certified return receipt. I don’t need to hear all this other stuff that you want me to try to dictate to me. I’ve been in this country for 38 years I think I should know what I’m doing,” she continues.
“There we go,” says one customer.
“I’m just going to call the police,” utters another.
“There we go,” a man repeats.
The clerk steps away and after a brief pause the irate woman mutters “damn ch*nk.”
“Hey, not appropriate. Absolutely not,” yells a person waiting in line.
“Woa,” says another shocked witness. “That is not acceptable,” he says in a stern voice of a parent talking to a spoiled child.
“Totally not OK,” someone scolds.
“You may need to go somewhere,” the man says.
“You don’t know what I said,” the woman replies.
“We all did.”
The woman grabs her stuff and calls the clerk a “b*tch”.
“Ch*nk,” she screams a second time as she walks toward the door apparently frightened by the push back she received from others.
“Oh, my God,” the man says in disbelief.” Bye, Karen.”
ABC7 identified the man who took the video as Tyler Brumfield, a Black man, who could certainly empathize with the postal clerk.
“We are all humans and we should respect each other as such, because someone is different or has different melanin doesn’t mean we have to disregard the humanity of that particular person.” he told ABC7 News.
As she leaves, the woman can be seen giving the middle finger salute
“A USPS communications person told me they don’t tolerate this kind of behavior and “abusive language” and provide training to all of their employees who come in contact with. He’s investigating the situation right now,” Lim of ABC7 News stated on her Facebook post.
The irony of it all. This woman stated she’s been in this country for 38 years. Apparently she’s an immigrant with little empathy for others.
You can watch the incident here.
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