University Store

I went to Umass/​Amherst some 30 years ago, and I can’t erase bad memories from the store I had one day:
I stopped by the store during a break in between classes. While I was exiting out of the store after browsing –picking up stuffs and putting them down, I was asked to a walk back of the store and there I met a store manager. The manager asked me to take off my jacket and take everything out of the pockets. I put everything out from my pocket (jacket and pants) and put them on the table. There was no surveillance camera back them, and the manager took me for shoplifting perhaps because I was wearing shabby clothing and look foreign. After seeing that nothing out of ordinary came out from the pockets, the manager let me leave without giving any apology. At that time, I was new to this country, and I could not speak English very well, and I brushed it off. However, that memories lingered and over time I gave me pain in my psyche. I don’t know whether this University Store has gotten any better now, but this was my worst memories from the university. I don’t know how much effort have been made and being made by the university to rid of racism on the campus. I hope that
the university is more sensitive about handling this kind of stuff and create environment that is safe for everybody and every students.