in the supermarket the other day. I had begun to pack my shopping, and Robin disappeared off to do something, buy a lottery ticket, I suspect, and just at that moment... the battery in my hearing aid failed. It beeps furiously when that happens. You would think that a couple of bleeps would suffice, just enough for you to screech and switch the *!?* thing off, but no, it seem to continue ad infinitum. That wasn't the funny thing, though. We had Rather A Lot Of Shopping, but the girl at the checkout, after the cursory, do you need help with your packing, was doing her best to ignore the fact that I was swamped and my assistant had disappeared. Until something fell off the conveyor belt. I didn't catch what she said, the first time, so she had to repeat it. Something fell off the conveyor belt. Oh, sorry, says I, I'm slightly deaf and my hearing aid just failed, so I'm not hearing as well as I could be. Oh, right, she says. And as I go to pick up whatever it was on the floor, she starts helping me to pack my shopping... and continues solicitously even after Robin reappeared and took over.
I can't begin to discuss the issues I see here. Does she think deaf people can't pack shopping? That I am less of a person for having some difficulty hearing? In which case, I wonder what would happen if I started wearing a 'Chronic Depressive' t-shirt? Would I get better service, or worse? Or was it all just a coincidence? I don't know. And probably never will. I thought it was funny, so I thought I'd share it with you. But my, it could get wearing... or incredibly useful...depending on how you look at it!
ps the image proves just who is in charge in this household. If there isn't food in the bowl in the studio, one of us cries until I go back to the house to supervise our eating. Not to add food, you understand, I top up the bowls before I go, just to be companionable while (usually) Mollie chomps her way through a few mouthfuls of dry cat food. Sigh.
