The movie was good, btw

Friends, Jessica and I witnessed two very sad events on Friday at the theater in Silver Spring. We were standing in front of the concession stand, waiting for our friends to arrive, watching others go through the first ticket check.*

The first drama involved a group of girls, perhaps around 15. One of them, in either a show of stupidity or teenage arrogance, was holding a brown bag that I, some 25 feet away, could tell was from Chipotle. The ticket-taker, a young black man,** in his role as guardian of the sanctity of $4 hot dogs, referred her to the customer service stand on his right. The poor lass argued and argued, but to no avail. The saddest part of this tale? Her friend was carrying a purse big enough to carry a family-sized box of cereal, in the original packaging. I felt sorry for the girl, as, clearly, no one ever told her the secret to sneaking in food to the movies. Rule 1 being, of course, the "sneaking" aspect.

Shortly after the girl's failed attempt to salvage her dinner, we spotted our friend. She was second in line, behind a young African-American gentleman. The man in front of her had a backpack on, and this aroused the suspicion of the ticket-taker. Jess and I watched as the customer held his bag out to be searched for any contraband snacks. At this point, we were fearful. Why? Because our friend (let's call her "Bailey") also had a backpack with her. In contrast to that of the person in front of her, hers was filled with...well, let's say with drinks that you can't buy at this particular theater. Jess, always an empathizer, turned around saying she couldn't watch this. I, intrigued with the process, continued snacking on pretzal bites and taking in the scene.

What happened? I think you know, readers. Bailey was let through without a glance at her bag. We had witnessed racial profiling. Not only regular racial profiling, but black-on-black racial profiling! Performed by someone in the same age group as the victim! I was appalled.

*Why do they have two? Why must you show your ticket before the concession stand and then again to enter the movie area?

**This is an important detail.