Have you ever wondered what life would be like if you belonged to a different race or national origin? As proud as I am to be who I am, I sometimes wonder if life would be better if I weren't a black male.

As a black man, I occasionally run into situations that make me feel like a second-class citizen or just someone at the lowest levels of human society because of racist comments or actions. Racism is something that I don't spend too much time thinking about.

But just recently, I experienced such a blatant case of discrimination that it makes me wonder what makes some people treat others according to skin tone or national origin. I'm not a naive idealist who thinks our society has made so much progress over the years that actions like this are just something from the past, but in most cases, it's something that often happens in a much more subtle manner.

But what happened to me on Wednesday, April 11, was clearly a blatant case of discrimination. I entered McDonald's restaurant at 13th and F streets, and ordered a deluxe breakfast, which cost about $4.80. Shortly after I sat down to eat and read the morning newspaper, I had to use the restroom. So I laid a napkin over my food and kindly asked the gentleman sitting across from me to keep an eye on my food just in case one of the employees came by to discard trash and assumed I had finished.

He agreed, so off to the restroom I went. As I approached the restroom for men, I noticed that a token was needed to enter, so I went to the counter and asked the cashier for a token. Her response was, "I'm sorry, but I don't have any tokens.''

As nature intensified in its effort to be released, I asked if she could get a token from the manager. She notified the manager that I was in need of a token. He looked at me then asked her if she had any tokens in her drawer. Her reply was no.

The manager then told me that I would have to put a quarter in the slot if I wanted to use the restroom.

After paying for a meal, I was not expecting to hear that I would have to pay for bathroom privileges.

So I said, if you expect me to pay to use your restroom, you can just give me my money back and I'll take my business elsewhere.

As I waited for my refund another customer, a nice white man, said to me, "Just hold tight for a minute when I order my coffee, I'll get you a token.''

So I waited curiously to see if his luck would be better than mine.

He requested a token from the same young Hispanic cashier whom I had asked for a token. She appeared a little reluctant to answer his request, but she did and what happened next filled me with such rage I thought I might have an aneurysm.

She handed him two tokens. He turned and handed me one of the tokens.

I expressed my disgust and hastily left feeling like the character in the movie, "A Brother From Another Planet.'

What's wrong with me? I thought. Am I from another planet? Do I look homeless?

No. I have no bags. No blankets. I'm casually dressed and clean.

Even if I were an alien from another planet as the character from "A Brother From Another Plant,'' I wouldn't have expected to be treated with such indignity.

This brings me back to my opening point: Sometimes I wonder how much better would life be if I belonged to another race. Would I get more respect?

As proud as I am of who I am, it is truly depressing to know that in our society all human beings will never been seen as equals.

If you have had similar experiences, or witnessed this incident at McDonald's on the morning of April 11, especially the man who ordered the coffee and gave me the token, please contact me at 202-904-5795 or at Street Sense, 202-347-2006.

Martin has been a vendor for Street Sense for two years and loves to eat seafood, especially stuffed shrimp.