I had a job my senior year in high school, working at a high-profile dry cleaners in an affluent, upscale part of town. I was the only minority in the entire staff of 4 which included myself. We alternated weeks working together in staffing of 2-3 people, 2 people on Saturdays. The owner was also included in the total number of staff, so approximately every 2 weekends I worked alone with him. One or two days a week, he would be on staff, while other days, it would just be all of us women.
The owner was a real asshole. He had the other two women who worked there, afraid of him. I could not understand it for the life of me. What were they afraid of? He hardly ever spoke to anybody, ever. When he did, it was intense, hushed tones. He had greasy slicked back grayed hair, a steak fry for a mustache and he was only nice and friendly to the rich customers. He would roll his eyes if something wasn't done right and would snatch items from you if he perceived you were doing something wrong. I did not see this as worthy of being afraid of, but I did see it worthy of copping an attitude myself. If he snatched from me, I would look at him crazy like I was gonna slap him bald. The other two ladies would avert eye contact with him and walked around in total fear. They would never laugh and avoided socializing. They always seemed nervous, all due to the asshole who never spoke.
When it would be us ladies working, we would have fun! We would turn up the radio and dance around and laugh. We still got the job done and done well. Its a dry cleaners for goodness sake! All we did was sort, collect money and send clothes out. The cleaning plant was in another part of the city. The other two ladies would always mention how grateful they were to have a job working there. Why? We made peanuts for pay and the boss was a real jerk! I had a second job to keep my pockets lined and these two women were much older than me as I was still in high school. When the owner was around, we were only allowed to listen to talk radio, and only very low. The other two ladies never laughed and would "shush" me when I would crack a joke. He was like the quiet tyrant. I could not understand it. He struck no fear in me and I rued the weekends I had to work with him. 6 hours of no human contact with my boss, who would be standing there with me, never looking at me, talking to me or even acknowledging me until I did something wrong (i.e. something he felt he could do better). What is so scary about someone who avoids you?
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