Heard At My Office

Sometimes, I just need to get out of my office for a few minutes & take a breather. I no longer smoke so unlike my office mate- I do not go outside every 30 minutes. Nice huh? And he gets disgruntled if I go outside & sit on the bench by the little water fountain (the one you see here actually) for five minutes while he's outside smoking cig after cig for twenty plus minutes! But I digress. Monday I was outside taking my refresher when Tony, the bio hazard pick up guy, put a well marked (bright orange bio hazard stickers on all sides of the box box) down on the ground about 5 feet from my sitting place. He said he would grab the other container from the doctor's office right next to where I was sitting so he could be on his way. I said sure not a problem. I was sitting there and I like Tony so I'd watch it for him. Who the hell would steal a box blatantly marked BIO HAZARD??? How could I be so naive? A young black kid-all of maybe 17 years of age was strolling through the complex on the other side of the fountain. He looked over at the box sitting on the ground 5 or so feet from me as I was leaning back with my head tilted to enjoy the breeze. He strolls by one more time & positions himself not too far off to the side of my bench but lined up to make a snatch & dash. I was watching him via the reflection of the glass windows alongside of where I was sitting. I know that the box was brightly marked & that bio hazard was printed all over it. I know this because it was the box from my office. It was filled with used urine sample cups. I figured the kid was either desperate or stupid, or possibly both. No sooner had the kid grabbed the box up in his arms & taken 5 steps to dash around the corner of the building & into the trees off to the side when Tony's loud, deep baritone rang out in a commanding order: DROP THE BOX NIGGER BEFORE I DROP YOU! The kid immediately dropped the box & never looked back as he high tailed it off the property. I busted out laughing as I looked back at Tony. He giggled as he met my eyes & smiled at me. He said to me: Only a black man can honestly call another black such a name. I laughed so hard at the look on Tony's face when he said that. He just shook his head & complained about people wanting to steal medical waste containers. I did agree with him though. He & I got to talking about Don Imus & the nappy-headed hos incident. I told him that it was a double standard & he agreed with me. "But," Tony said," if Ihad yelled drop the box, the kid would have just kept on going. He knew a brother caught him this time. A mean sounding one at that." I had to agree. I had never heard Tony talk like that or in that tone of voice before! I'd have dropped the box too! LOL. But then again, I wouldn't pick up something obviously marked BIO HAZARD. But then that's just me.