Uprising experience | 2019 | What if?

Videos can go viral instantly, especially when individuals are being physically harmed or harassed in any way.

What if the person recording this video called the police on a white man harassing an employee at McDonald’s? Watch Self-Defense over plastic straws.

What if McDonald’s did not fire the young woman (or place her on leave), but transferred her to another location? After her transfer, check-in with her- her state of mind and how she is feeling after being assaulted by a man she was providing service to.

What if videos that go viral are used as learning opportunities to show what to or not do in heated situations.

What if the Black community started a GoFundMe account for the McDonald’s employee, Yasmine James (who apparently does not have health insurance)?

What if the McDonald’s cooperation takes this as an opportunity to update their training process- and add how to respond to physical assault, verbal threats, etc form customers? Or stress the importance of self-defense, safety, and customer service all in one.

What if we stop recording and call the police instead? Or better yet, speak up while recording. Record, speak up and have your friend call the police.

What if we stop talking about how others treat us unfairly and start treating others how they treat us. *For some, this goes against the motto, “Treat others they way you want to be treated”. *

Some of us can look at this video and blame the employee and say she was in the wrong and not hold that man accountable for any of his actions.

Did you hear? After he left the store, he (a homeless man) apparently called the police to report an “unarmed robbery” and that he was beaten by a group of Black men. #privilege 

We never know the whole story and we form our opinions off of 1 min videos and make judgmental statements. What if we really assessed each situation using our statistical thinking skills?

This is a clear example where it really doesn’t matter who said what (or how it was said), he reached across the counter and assaulted an employee (a woman serving and providing him customer service). Could she have walked away after she got all those hits in? Of course. She could have went to the back and cooled off. However, her response was simply self defense with added commentary.  

What if we knew everybody’s background and actually had empathy and compassion for them because of their past?

What if we could all get along?

*Pay attention- plastic straws are becoming a things of the past. Some places have replaced them completely with paper straws. Other places have plastic straws available by request.