A true story...told by a woman having her hair done at a West Hempstead beauty parlor...a cautionary tale about racial prejudices...This story deserves to be passed along to as many as possible...

On a recent weekend in Atlantic City, the woman related, she won a bucketful of quarters at a slot machine. She took a break from the slots to have dinner with her husband in the hotel dining room. But 1st she would stash the quarters in her room...I'll be right back, she tells her husband...and then we will go eat.

As she carried the coin-laden bucket to the elevator, she is about to walk into the elevator when she notices two men already aboard. Both of the men were black. One of them was big, very big (the intimidating type)....The woman froze....Her fist thought was: These two are going to rob me. Her next thought was: Don't be a bigot, they look like perfectly nice gentlemen, even if one of them is awfully black. Racial stereotypes are very powerful and she stood there immobilized by fear. She stood there and stared at the two men. She felt anxious, flustered, and slightly ashamed. She was hoping that they couldn't read her mind, but was sure that they probably did. Her hesitation about joining them on the elevator was all too obvious...her face burned. She couldn't just stand there, so with a mighty effort of will she picked up one foot, then the other, and was on the elevator...Avoiding eye contact, she turned around stiffly and faced the elevator doors...watching them close.

A second passed, then another, and then another...the elevator did not move....Panic consumed her. My God, she thought, I am trapped and about to be robbed! Her heart sank. Perspiration flowed from every pore of her body...Then one of the men said, "Hit the floor,".....instinct told her to do as she was told...the bucket of quarters flew upwards as she threw out her arms and collapsed on the elevator carpet...A shower of coins rained down on her...take my money and spare me, she prayed....more seconds passed....

She heard one of the men politely say to her, "Ma'am, if you will just tell us what floor you're going to, we will push the button"....The one who said it had trouble getting words out...he was trying so hard not to bust out laughing... She lifted her head and looked at the two men. They reached down to help her up...confused, she struggled to her feet... Finally, the average size man spoke...he said "When I told my man to hit the floor, I meant the elevator button for the floor we were going to. I didn't mean for you ma'am to hit the floor."......he spoke very softly to her....but he bit his lip...he was truly having a hard time not laughing...She thought: My God, what a spectacle I've made of myself. She was too humiliated to speak. She wanted to blurt out an apology, but words failed her... How do you apologize to two totally respectable gentlemen for behaving as though they were going to rob you? She did not know the answer to that. The three of them picked up the quarters off the floor and refilled the bucket...

When the elevator arrived at her floor, they insisted on walking her to her room...She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, and they were afraid that she wouldn't make it down the corridor. At her door, the bid her good evening...As she stepped into her room she could hear them laughing as they walked off back to the elevator... The woman brushed herself off, pulled herself together, and went downstairs for dinner with her husband. The next morning flowers were delivered to her room.....a half dozen roses. Attached to each rose was a crisp one dollar bill. A card said:
"Thanks for the best laugh we've had in years." It was signed,....Eddie Murphy and Bodyguard

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