In a video currently circulating online, a salesman really stuck his foot in his mouth when he accidentally called a man a “n**ger” instead of a “neighbor.” The cringeworthy encounter was caught on a Vivint doorbell security camera.
The clip begins with a salesman walking up the steps to a home in a residential area. He rings the doorbell and waits on the porch for a response. The man who emerged from the home isn’t fully seen on camera, but from the salesman’s following actions, one could assume the resident is Black.
As the resident answers the door, what happens next is shocking. “Hey, sorry to bother you,” the salesman begins. “I’m Fernando with Pink Energy,” he says while shaking the man’s hand. Fernando continues, “We’re a few doors down. We do solar [panels] around here [and] we’re just coming around talking to n**gers.”
Almost immediately, Fernando realizes the slip-up. The utterly uncomfortable situation continues with the salesman apologizing right away. “Sorry, dude,” he says as he extends his hand to the resident. “Neighbors. I apologize, man,” Fernando says with a smile. It’s unclear what the resident says, but the salesman continues to try and right his wrong. “It wasn’t even like that,” Fernando says as the man exits the conversation and closes his door.
Fernando then walked away, visibly agitated by the interaction. The clip of the salesman and his slur was soon shared on social media. “Yeah, I’ve never gotten ‘n**ger’ and ‘neighbor’ mixed up with one another. Literally at all! That word has been rolling off his tongue since he was in pampers, do you hear me?! And it was caught on a Ring doorbell? Yeah, Mr. White man you’re fired,” one person said with footage of the video.
Another person tweeted, “Somebody ringing your doorbell then calling you a ‘n**ger’ is crazy, actually.” The incident reportedly happened in Texas. At this time, there’s no word on whether or not the salesman has been disciplined by his employer or if the resident took legal action.