All right, what is going on in America right now? A white woman called the cops on a black family having a barbecue cookout at the lake. A white man verbally attacked a Muslim woman at a coffee shop. And now a white dude freaked out at a deli in Manhattan because he heard people speaking Spanish to each other. Can't people just BBQ, order mochas and eat sandwiches in peace?
Activist Shaun King posted the video on Twitter, which shows an irate man complaining to the deli manager. "Your staff is speaking Spanish to customers when they should be speaking English," rants the man. "Every person I listen to—he spoke it, he spoke it, she’s speaking it. It’s America. They should be speaking English, not Spanish."
"It is America!" protests someone in the background. "He's very ignorant," someone else rightly observes.
As the man continues his tirade, he makes several wild accusations:
"I will be following up, and my guess is, [the workers are] not documented, so my next call is to ICE to have each one of them kicked out of my country. They have the balls to come here and live off of my money? I pay for their welfare, I pay for their ability to be here. The least they could do—the least they could do is speak English."
So, people that speak Spanish are "not documented?" And if they're working at a deli, how are they on "welfare"? And why is he so mad about hearing another language, when America's a melting pot of different cultures, and everyone's ancestors were immigrants? I have so many questions.
Anyway, the video ends with the man throwing in a bit of body-shaming. Because, hey, why not, right? "Honey, I'm calling ICE!" he barks. Then he gestures to the stomach of the woman recording him, and cracks, "Maybe you shouldn’t eat that sandwich today. Take a break from the food." To which someone in the background responds, "Maybe you should get hit by a car, you piece of shit." (Hilarious.)
The Daily News interviewed the Fresh Kitchen manager, who revealed that the angry dude totally misread the situation. A Hispanic employee was speaking Spanish to a regular customer, who happened to come in almost every day for lunch.
"They were speaking Spanish because they are friends," explained the manager. "He got mad, waiting in line for his food. He stormed out."
Shaun King's tweet got over a million views, and his followers were quickly able to identify the man. First, someone spotted him in a photo from a protest, in which he flicked off people on the opposing side. Then someone spotted him in a video with Trump supporters, yelling, "You are not a Jew!" "Clearly, his bigotry is not new or hidden," wrote Shaun. "He has been seen being horrible before."
Finally, someone identified the guy by name: His name is Aaron M. Schlossberg and he's a lawyer. King shared a screenshot of the law firm's website, announcing to his followers: "Please let Attorney Aaron M. Schlossberg of Midtown Manhattan know I’m trying to get in touch with him... If you reach him, ask how often he eats at the Fresh Kitchen next door to his office and if he has a problem with people speaking Spanish there."
Several people claimed they left Schlossberg voicemails (in Spanish, of course.) One person discovered that Schlossberg claims to be "fluent in Spanish" in his online bio. (What?!) Of course, many reporters tried to reach Schlossberg, but he wasn't available for comment. According to Daily News, the front desk of the law office turned away all visitors and they were not answering any phone calls.
A lot of people on Twitter mocked Señor Schlossberg, pointing out his hypocrisy, reviewing his law firm, and photoshopping him into festive photos.
Well, hope you enjoy your Internet fame, attorney Aaron M. Schlossberg of Midtown Manhattan. Hasta luego!
