What type of discrimination is this?

Question

I was touring a Spanish city and I entered a small scale restaurant (but not too fancy). I was in my jeans, my t-shirt and jacket that were definitely clean and not dirty or hobo-like. A waiter came over to take my order. I ordered and waited...waited over 30 minutes like a dumb fool while I watched other people getting their foods served (the food I ordered was not a whole meal, it was just a small sandwich entree). Meanwhile my relative told me to eat while she was going to get something. When she came and saw me still without food, she became furious and we went out of the restaurant, while the server was all too aware of the situation. I was an 18 year old Asian guy and 5'7" (short stature).

After that incident my emotion and my self esteem were deepy hurt.

Is this a racial discrimination?

age discrimination?

or a look discrimination?

Answer 1

lol probably

but don't be hurt man

Answer 2

I think your being to sensitive,I don't think it had anything to do with you being Asian,I think the waiter saw a young kid who,to him was unlikely to leave a good tip and wrongfully ignored you,next time raise the roof on a place that does that to you,you would be surprised how good the service becomes

Answer 3

probably just a case of crappy service...happens to me often...lol.  sorry you are so upset by this; i completely understand.  my children are all biracial and EVERY time we get crappy service be it in a restaurant, mall or wherever...I can't help but wonder if it is a race-related issue...but more times than not-it is just a case of crappy service by an individual that is less than in love with their job.

Answer 4

Although there may be some form of discrimination taking place, it is not responsible to conclude so. Based on the information given, it might have just been a simple mistake - perhaps your order was misplaced or something. You should definitely have confronted the waiter about where your food was.

If you want a social-psychological perspective on it,

Some research shows that minorities often attain similar levels of self-esteem as their white male counterparts. One possible conclusion the social psychologists made in this famous study (the name of it escapes me, but I'm sure you could find it if you're determined) is that minorities use discrimination as a defense mechanism, shielding them from lower self-esteem. In many cases the discrimination is valid and real, many times it might not be. I know that I've hit that pitfall of misattribution many times before.

Answer 5

Good question!  Europeans tend to be blatantly discriminatory in ways they don't even realize...especially in the more homogenous countries like Spain.  I can confirm that as a short white male who visited that country, I experienced similar discrimination and was told by a guide that Spaniards take especially strong offense to those who don't "dress to the occassion", so lack of proper attire could have been the reason.  I also distinctly recall an entire subway staring at a woman of african descent, so i can't rule out racial discrimination either.  Don't let it bother you, you should never base your self confidence on treatment by a single server.