If the pundits are to be believed, Shelby County v. Holder struck down part of the Voting Rights Act because racism is over.

I’m here to tell you, it’s not.

I’m in line this morning at the Shell Kwik-E-Mart on the corner, stopping to get a monster before work.  The morning management guy is Asian.  The clerk ringing people is a friendly African immigrant.  Yay! Diversity!

I get my two cans of Monster.  They’re 2 for $3.  Mix-n-match.  Sales are cool.

The guy in line ahead of me is a Mexican who obviously works outdoors, like on a road crew.  He’s got a couple liters of Gatorade and a taquito.  Sign says 2 for $3, so this is about a $4 transaction.  But wait.

Clerk:  *scans each item*$6 please
Guy:  I read the sign. These are marked 2/$3.
Clerk:  No sir.  You cannot have two DIFFERENT flavors.  The computer does not allow it. They must be the same. $6 please.
Guy:  *grumbles, swaps one out to get the “deal.”*

Now it’s my turn:

Clerk:  *scans one can, enters quantity as 2* $3 please.

I’ve been in retail long enough to know that they either care about how many of each flavor you buy and scan each item, or they don’t. It’s no “get to the back of the bus” or “Whites only,” but it sure looked like the same ugliness waiting to be spotted.  Maybe tomorrow I’ll get a couple Gatorades from there and see what happens…