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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/prtafjs on 2026-08-04 12:14:08+00:00.

So, this actually happend yesterday during my eveningshift.

I am a nursing student in the Netherlands and was taking care of this lovely elderly woman (89 years old). Next to her laid a black english man (this is relevant) and across from her another lady.

I was checking her IV pump and making small talk when she pointed next to me and said:

"The black one was out for a bit"

Huh??? I thought to myself, did she really just tell me that the patient next to her, 'the black one' left the room for a bit?

I told her "ma'am, we don't talk about people in that way, we don't say 'the black one' when referring to your neigbour patient".

She looked at me with a thousand question marks above her head. I looked back at her, also confused.

Then she said, "What? The black cable was out of the pump for a bit"

"The black one" wasn't the person next to her. It was the charging cable.

I felt an immediate feeling of cringe in my heart. The lady looked at me and started laughing incredibly hard.

The other lady across from her also started laughing at my miscommunication.

I started apologizing like crazy, "I'm so sorry I really thought you meant the man laying next to you by the way you pointed and said that"

She started laughing even harder.

Have you ever been laughed at by a 89 year old grandma? It hits hard.

My head turned red out of shame and i kept apologizing to the lady. I'm glad the man spoke english only and didn't have a clue why the ladies were laughing at me.

Eventually I left the room, embarrased, my cheeks all flushed and red, behind me I still heard those ladies giggling together at my mistake.

I guess at least I tried to speak up for someone, even though it was not necessary.

TL;DR: I thought I stood up against casual racism when an elderly patient said "the black one", whole time she was talking about a black charging cable instead of the black patient next to her :$