The Lunch Date

Well, you know what they say about assumptions...actually don't answer that. Anyway, the Lunch Date is a charming short film that addresses the racial tensions that have been present even after the desegregation of the United States. To start off, this middle-aged woman is on her way to a train in a bustling city when she accidentally bumps into a black gentleman and drops much of her belongings. The man tries to help her pick up her things, but she lets him know very quickly that she is not interested in his help. After retrieving all of her things, she heads to the train station and barely misses the ride. Distraught, she takes a trip to a local diner where she orders a salad from the white man at the counter. After ordering her salad, she leaves her bag in a booth and walks away from the booth momentarily. When she returns, she finds that some black gentleman is in her seat eating her salad. Why the nerve of that man! She tries to take her salad back and he resists. This goes on a few more times before she just starts taking bites out of her rightful salad. He looks at her in confusion, but then just lets it happen and even gets the two of them coffee. She thanks him, and she goes on her way before the next train leaves. As she leaves, she realizes she misplaced her bags. When she returns to the diner, she finds that the booth with the bag in it also had a salad bowl placed on the table there. She begins to laugh as she realized that she was eating his salad, and that the role in stereotypical society was just switched for her. She assumed that the black man would be eating her sandwich, following what she'd grown up with her whole life (being forced to believe that black men and women were inferior to whites). She was the one who made the mistake, not that kind gentleman. The woman realizes through her laughter that the stereotypes were wrong: black people aren't terrible. In fact, they were kinder than she'd ever believe; seeing as the whites had done so much to hold them back and the kind man let her eat his salad with him, even buying coffee!
This short film captures the misconceptions that the privileged have about those who were viewed as inferior.