It's getting a bit old now, isn't it?
Seemingly every day now, we come across a story of someone calling the cops on black people, whether it be for the unforgivable iniquity of holding a BBQ, or for the heinous crime of selling water without a permit and being eight years old. The last 18 months or so in the United States have been an awkward time for race relations, but on the bright side: at least we're a little wiser to it all now, right?
With that in mind, let's all roll our eyes and get our Angry Reacts ready for this debacle down at the CVS pharmacy chain, where two managers have lost their jobs after they decided to dial 911 on a black woman who had the gall to attempt to pay for her cosmetics with a coupon. With a coupon, damn you! What is this world coming to where people think they can pay for things with coupons?!
But before we get too mad, let's break this story down.
Our victim this time: 53-year-old Camilla Hudson. On her Facebook profile, she recounted her Friday evening, where she made the mistake of going out to her local CVS in Chicago. "I stopped in to make a purchase using a coupon mailed to me by the product manufacturer, as replacement for problematic/defective product," Hudson revealed, but disaster struck when the manager in place did not recognise the coupon. Oh dear.
"The manager on duty said that he’d never seen a coupon like the one I had and said that he thought it was fraudulent. When I asked for his name and his title/role within the store, he became agitated and rude," said Hudson, before whipping her phone out to document the incident (as everyone in this situation must surely do now).
The manager walked away from the camera, shutting himself in the back room, before another manager came out to ask what the fuss was all about. "the other manager, who’d been helping me initially, came running back to tell me that I’d better leave the store immediately, because he’d called the police," said Hudson, but she wasn't about to go anywhere.
"Three tactical unit officers arrived and, after some conversation and documenting their names, badge numbers, etc., I eventually left the store. Needless to say, this is far from over. Life in these United States. Aargh."
That post on Facebook has been shared more than a thousand times, and in response to this, CVS announced that not only were they sorry for the altercation, but the managers involved had since lost their jobs.
"CVS Pharmacy does not tolerate any practices that discriminate against any customer and we are committed to maintaining a welcoming and diverse environment in our stores. We have firm non-discrimination policies in place to help ensure that all customers are treated with respect and dignity. Profiling or any other type of discriminatory behavior is strictly prohibited."
The initial manager called here - real name Morry Matson - has been branded as Coupon Carl in response to the incident, and we have yet another name to add to the frivolous calling of police on black individuals in America. I guess this is what social progress looks like.