Last Friday, I did something out of character. I spontaneously drove to downtown Dallas to join the UpYourBudget Treasure Hunt. I wrote about it here and here. From a deaf perspective, I ran into two challenges.
One, if you find the UpYourBudget sticker, you have to call the number on the sticker. I figured my chances weren’t great, but it never hurts to try. After all, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. The second one: a complete stranger stopped me on the street and started talking. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand him. It was an uncomfortable situation. Finally, I just had to walk away from him while he kept on talking. I hate doing that, but I had to get out of the situation.
When I go shopping, I don’t like it when sales people start talking to me especially when they’re behind me. While in high school, I was trying on clothes in a store and Mom was there with me. Apparently, the sales person was trying to talk to me from the other side of the door. I heard talking, but it didn’t sound directed at me.
Mom came to my door and realized what the sales person was doing. She explained the situation. The gal admitted that she thought I was a snob for not responding. So I’d rather they didn’t approach me. I know where to find them if I get to the point where I need help.
2 comments
I know what you mean about the salespeople, and I find I’ve developed some interesting habits when I shop. When I walk into a store, I instinctively scan the store for any salespeople hovering around. If I see one, I walk around in a way where I can always see him/her out of the corner of my eye. Then if I sense the salesperson approaching, I look up and ascertain whether they have that “I’m about to talk to you” expression. If they do, I smile warmly and make a kind of “oh, I’m just looking at the merchandise” gesture. If they don’t get the hint and keep talking, I point at my ear and shake my head with a smile. Most of them handle it pretty well, and a few even surprise me by starting to sign. I agree with you though, it’s a hassle to always be on the lookout.
Alicia, what you said here is much like what I do. Thanks for sharing.