This review is exclusively for the male employee who worked at the prize shop of the indoor arcade center (the one with medium-long messy black hair and bangs) on the afternoon of Monday, August 5th.

Today is my son’s birthday and the 10th anniversary of my marriage to my husband. We thought it would be a great idea to celebrate at San Antonio SeaWorld, the destination of our first trip together. It held so much sentimental value for us, which I deeply regret now because it created an extremely negative core memory for my son due to racism.

After a long day visiting SeaWorld, my son decided to spend his final hours at the arcade. He won some tickets, which made him so happy, so we waited in line to exchange some goodies at the prize desk. There was another family (Caucasian) in front of us who had won lots of tickets and were taking their time deciding what to get. This male employee served them the whole time and showed no intention of greeting us, which we didn't mind. We followed the rules and waited patiently.

However, after a long wait, another family (also Caucasian) with kids came to exchange gifts, and this male employee immediately served them and exchanged gifts for them. I was so surprised that I asked him why he let them skip the line, especially since my son and I (a 5-year-old) had been waiting patiently. Instead of offering any explanation or apology, he looked down at me and my son as if we were beneath him and asked, "You didn’t ask me to help you, did you?"

I couldn’t believe he was treating us this way. I said, "You saw us waiting in line, and you didn’t even make eye contact or try to serve us. We were just being polite and waiting our turn." He responded with, "So do you want to choose a prize or not?"

My son was about to cry, seeing someone mistreat his mom like that. I knew it was because of our skin color. I didn’t want to disappoint my son, so I let him choose a prize, trying to shield him from the male employee’s abhorrent behavior. I said thank you after he handed the prize to my son, but instead of responding, this male employee slammed the door of the shelf right in front of us to show his attitude! I was utterly shocked! I've been mistreated many times in my life (unfortunately), but I never expected my 5-year-old to be treated unfairly because of his skin color—on his birthday, at SeaWorld, no less!

And I didn’t want to mention, while waiting in the line for such a long time, someone took my son’s “momma and baby” penguin stuffed animal we just purchased at the gift shop (from the stroller), he took long time to picked out his favorite one as his birthday present, and my son cried all the way back home. So on my son’s birthday, instead of creating any good memories, it only left us with a heartbroken child who was treated unfairly due to his skin color and a sad little empty gift bag—thanks to this racist male employee.

I am beyond furious and heartbroken that my son had to experience such blatant racism. This was supposed to be a joyous occasion, and instead, it was marred by the unacceptable behavior of this employee. SeaWorld, you need to address this issue immediately. No one should have to endure such treatment, especially a child on his birthday. The fact that this kind of behavior is allowed and goes unchecked in your establishment is appalling. This employee's actions were not only rude but deeply hurtful and discriminatory. This incident has left a scar on what should have been a special day, and it's something my family and I will never forget.

To the management of SeaWorld: It is your responsibility to ensure that all your employees treat every guest with respect and fairness, regardless of their skin color. This kind of behavior is unacceptable and must be addressed to prevent any future occurrences. No child should have their birthday ruined by such vile and racist treatment. We demand that you take immediate action against this employee and implement better training and policies to ensure that no other family has to go through what we experienced today.