I've spent most of my life working in customer service. In one way or another, every job I've ever had required me to interact with paying customers. Those jobs taught me a lot about people. They also gave me reason to watch others when they interact with people who are just trying to do their jobs.

When I order takeout, there are only a handful of places that I go. I tend to be a regular customer at restaurants where they know me. I like to order there so that I can look around and see that it's clean. If someone else is making my food, I prefer knowing that they're going to do it right and that they regularly follow food safety standards. There are three places that I frequent where friends of mine work. I was at one of them earlier this week when I witnessed a bizarre and racist encounter.