LIFT - First aid to microaggressions Scenarios

Scenario 1: Your supervisor has provided your coworkers with a special "orange shirt" pin, in support of Orange Shirt Day (the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation). A client comes up to the counter, looks around, and asks you why everyone is wearing orange pins. “I’m not racist or anything…this just seems like some political agenda.”

Scenario 2: You overhear a coworker approach your East Asian team member and say out loud “Ni hao.” At your coworker’s look of confusion, the first coworker rolls their eyes and says “Oh, you’re a different kind of Chinese, aren’t you?” They speak in gibberish, on the assumption that it sounds like a dialect that your other coworker speaks.

Scenario 3: As your coworker is helping a client, you overhear the client  making comments about your coworker’s physical appearance and attempt to make advances. The client asks personal questions, and asks your coworker when they will finish their shift and if they can text them later. You sense some awkwardness and that your coworker might be struggling to handle the situation.

Scenario 4: You overhear a coworker helping a client who is becoming increasingly agitated. You can sense your coworker is trying to remain calm and professional. The client begins to walk away while insulting your coworker’s physical appearance, specifically their weight. Your coworker is silent as this is happening and you can feel the tension.

Scenario 5: A new team member has just joined your team, and is meeting you and your coworkers for the first time. When they approach one of your coworkers to shake hands and introduce themselves, you overhear your coworker chuckle and say, “That’s a weird name. I’ll call you ____ for short.”

Scenario 6: You approach a supervisor for help with a problem you are having with a female coworker. Your supervisor responds, “Don’t worry about it. She probably just gets upset when it’s her time of month.”

Scenario 7: Melissa, your new manager, is in her mid- to late-20s. As she approaches a client who asked to speak with your manager, the client looks at her and says, "Oh, can I speak to the real manager?" (Consider how the manager might respond, OR how a team member who overhears this comment might respond)