For anyone who didn't see David Letterman's talk about this incident on his show:
On a recent weekend in Atlantic City, a woman won a bucketful of quarters
at a slot machine. She took a break from the slots for dinner with her
husband in the hotel dining room. But first she wanted to stash the
quarters in her room. 'I'll be right back and we'll go to eat, she told
her husband and carried the coin-laden bucket to the elevator.
As she was about to walk into the elevator she noticed two men already
aboard. Both were black. One of them was tall...very tall...an
intimidating figure. The woman froze. Her first thought was:
'These two are going to rob me. Her next thought was:
'Don't be a bigot; they look like perfectly nice gentlemen.'
But racial stereotypes are powerful, and fear immobilized her. She stood
and stared at the two men. She felt anxious, flustered and ashamed. She
hoped they didn't read her mind but gosh, they
had to know what she was thinking!!! Her hesitation about joining them in
the elevator was all too obvious now. Her face was flushed. She couldn't
just stand there, so with a mighty effort of will she picked
up one foot and stepped forward and followed with the other foot and was
on the elevator.
Avoiding eye contact, she turned around stiffly and faced the elevator
doors as they closed. A second passed, and then another second, and then
another. Her fear increased!The elevator didn't move. Panic consumed her. 'My God,' she thought, I'm trapped and about to be robbed! 'Her heart plummeted.Perspiration poured
from every pore.
Then one of the men said, 'Hit the floor.'
Instinct told her to do what they told her. The bucket of quarters flew
upwards as she threw out her arms and collapsed on the elevator floor.
A shower of coins rained down on her. Take my money and spare me, she
prayed. More seconds passed. She heard one of the men say politely,
'Ma'am, if you'll just tell us what floor you're going to, we'll push the
button.' The one who said it had a little trouble getting the words out.
He was trying mightily to hold in a belly laugh. The woman lifted her
head and looked up at the two men. They reached down to help her up.
Confused, she struggled to her feet. 'When I told my friend here to hit
the floor,' said the average sized one, 'I meant that he should hit the
elevator button for our floor.
I didn't mean for you to hit the floor, ma'am.' He spoke genially. He bit
his lip. It was obvious he was having a hard time not laughing.
The woman thought: 'My God, what a spectacle I've made of myself.'
She was too humiliated to speak. She wanted to blurt out an apology, but
words failed her.
How do you apologize to two perfectly respectable gentlemen for behaving
as though they were going to rob you? She didn't know what to say.
The three of them gathered up the strewn quarters and refilled her
bucket. When the elevator arrived at her floor they then insisted on
walking her to her room. She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, and
they
were afraid she might not make it down the corridor. At her door they bid
her a good evening.
As she slipped into her room she could hear them roaring with laughter as
they walked back to the elevator. The woman brushed herself off.
She pulled herself together and went downstairs for dinner with her
husband.
The next morning flowers were delivered to her room - a dozen yellow
roses. Attached to EACH rose was a crisp one hundred dollar bill.
The card said: 'Thanks for the best laugh we've had in years.'
It was signed:
Eddie Murphy
Michael Jordan
Unknown "LoveaLatte" Purring
- 16 years, 10 months, 27 days ago
