What could've been a wonderful experience became one of utter discrimination and hatred directed at us, as my young son and I (Non-Jewish) were stared at, ignored and treated as third-class citizens as we shopped in "their" store.
Initially, my young son and I were excited when entering this bright and fully stocked warehouse. We began to shop with amazement as we admired the excellent Mediterranean choices not seen in other stores.
As we shopped, we noticed people starring at us.
Still, we considered this normal as we well know that, unfortunately, the Hasidic community commonly treats non-Hasidic's this way.
The discrimination and hatred directed towards us by the staff were cutting and unsettling.
While entering checkout and after our items were on the conveyor belt, the cashier looked at us, walked away from the register and sat on the floor to assemble boxes. I waited about five minutes for her to return, but she did not.
I finally walked over to her and asked her if she was going to ring us up?
She would not look at me, and she did not answer, but after about five minutes, she walked over and began ringing up our purchases.
We had a large order, probably hundreds of items.
My son and I were bagging our piled-up things when the cashier asked for us to pay.
(The entire conveyer belt was still full at this time)
I entered my debit card, and she handed me my receipt. The cashier walked away and did not help us bag our items. I looked at my son to comfort him as his eyes showed confusion and discomfort.
Shockingly, a Hasidic women came to this register for checkout, where we continued to bag as fast as we could.
The same cashier returned to the register (while ignoring our presence and as if we were invisible), leaving our items piled up on the counter. She quickly began ringing up the Hassidic women behind us. This cashier refused to help us. As this woman was ready to exit, she began to push me and our very full and heavy cart out of her way, but there was no place for us to move. The only way to pass by would be to jump over us.
This store put me in the position to tell this other customer; she would need to exit through an empty aisle as there was nowhere for her to go. Rather than helping us, once again, the cashier walked away to assemble boxes.
At this point, I walked over to her and asked her to please help us. She continued to look away.
I asked her why she rang the person behind us while we were still not checked out? She ignored me and continued to look down, and I repeated the question several times.
I asked again, "please answer me, I would like to know why you are maltreating us?"
Finally, she looked at me and replied, " I do not have to answer you".
The Hasidic owned store and community made it known that we (Non-Jewish) are unwelcome!
The unwelcome vibe has most likely already made well known to the Gentiles. FYI- (Every person in this store was either Hasidic or Orthodox Jewish, except for the workers, who appeared to be mostly Pakistanian.)
With all of the media coverage related to discrimination, This behaviour is unacceptable and is morally reprehensible.
Expect that your children will also have this experience when shopping at Bingo in Lakewood, NJ.
***Also equally important ,At this time in the Covid- pandemic,
many shoppers either wore no mask or wore it around their necks.
I intend to make this horrific and stressful experience known to the media. read more