I once landed in Miami after spending the last six or so weeks at a mine, cabbed to my hotel and showered. I put on some 'fresh' clothes and realized I only had clothes suitable for a jungle, not South Beach, so I grabbed a cab to the mall.
I was fairly quickly interrupted by two security guards who wanted to escort me out of the mall - they thought I was homeless and had no business in the mall. They even went through my backpack in case I stole something. My aunt who met me there has teased me since.
Humans are very good at stereotyping and confirmation bias. It really is something in all of us and takes effort to push beyond it. We do this all the time based on appearance, attractiveness, race, age and countless other features.
The Starbucks situation should be a real eye opener for all of us.
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