On the evening of November 8, 1946, Desmond made an

unplanned stop in the small community of New Glasgow after her

car broke down en route to a business meeting in Sydney, Nova
Scotia. Told that the repair would take a number of hours, she
arranged for a hotel room and then decided to see a movie to pass
the time. At the Roseland Theatre, Desmond requested a ticket
for a seat on the main floor.
The ticket seller handed Desmond a ticket to the balcony instead,
the seating generally reserved for nonwhite customers. Walking
into the main floor seating area, she was challenged by the ticket
taker, who told her that her ticket was for an upstairs seat, where
she would have to move. Thinking that a mistake had been made,
Desmond returned to the cashier and asked her to exchange the
ticket for a downstairs one. The cashier refused, saying, “I’m
sorry, but I’m not permitted to sell downstairs tickets to you
people.” Realizing that the cashier was referring to the colour of
her skin, Desmond decided to take a seat on the main floor.