Black Coworker: Now, see, I don’t got a phone. Errybody walkin around, like, “what time is it?” and fumbling with their pockets and shit… naw. Not me. I got a watch! And at home I don’t need my phone- I got clocks everywhere. And just you wait, once I got some money, I’ll be showin off my Rolex!
Me: Why the hell would you spend that much money on a watch when you already have one? I don’t like watches, but if I did get one I wouldn’t spend more than like $10 on it.
Different Black Coworker: Matt, you can’t talk to black people about money like that. We spend it differently than you. We wanna show off that we got paid, so we spend the money. Then we don’t have the money. Meanwhile, some rich white dude who could buy out the whole shoe store and not even notice walkin around with ratty sneakers with holes in ‘em.
Me, looking at my very old, worn boots: Yeah…
Different Black Coworker, continued: …this is why we don’t got nothin to leave to our kids.