Face mask face off

[DonutDolittle]

In Tesco self checkout this morning: Woman shopping wearing mask, needs assistance with a voucher.

Assistant: I can't hear you, I'm a bit deaf, can you take off your the mask.

Woman shakes head and points to the notification on the screen whilst saying she needs help.

Assistant: Well I can't hear you and I don't know what the problem is. There is no one else. The mask thing is a little over the top.

Woman takes off mask: I work in A&E and last night dealt with a Covid positive patient. I'm protecting you, you idiot.

Woman storms out, leaving the shopping.

Assistant bursts into tears. Another person comes over. She's saying it's not fair she's not an idiot, she can't do her job like this, something about discrimination.

Manager comes over and tells her to go home and have a day off. Then all three walk off.

AIBU to think that through all of that someone should have really noticed my awkwardly flashing red light and given me some assistance..?! There I am stood like a fucking lemon waiting for someone to confirm that I have indeed bagged said item and they all just walk off. Fuckers. I'm half joking.

[Chloemol]

So this is why i don’t use self service tills, horrible things.

As regards the assistant she should not have been placed anywhere that requires mask wearing, ie the tills. I get she was possibly upset as she felt frustrated, but it’s not the mask wearers fault she is entitled to protect herself and others

[FelicityBob]

@StillCounting123

I thought people were supposed to self-isolate if they've been in contact with a Covid positive person? Why was she out and about in Tesco?!?

NHS staff don’t have to because they wear PPE while caring for them. And also because they’d have no staff if they did.

[DonutDolittle]

Assistant was very close to customer who kept trying to back away. I think (from my limited eavesdropping skills) that customer used a voucher and posted it, the voucher didn't work so she pressed the assistance button. But I didn't see the screen so I can't be sure.

The manager did try to talk the assistant into going to the staffroom but she just getting more emotional with everything he said.

It was quite hard to hear what the customer was saying, she had a bit of an accent which couldn't have helped the assistant.

I wouldn't necessarily assume that a bit deaf implied a disability, my mum says it all the time and hasn't been diagnosed as hearing impaired. I do think the customer could have been a little more patient but with the assistant getting closer she was probably too frustrated to have any patience.

[Topseyt]

I am with the assistant here.

Whilst it is true that she shouldn't have said that the mask wearing was OTT, she did admit to the customer that she was "a little bit deaf", which is right there in the OP.

So the assistant admitted to her disability as an explanation for why she needed the customer to briefly remove the mask. The customer, as a health care professional, really should have known better than to call someone who probably needs to lip read an idiot. Working in A & E does not give her a free pass to behave like an arse to shop workers.

In my opinion, the customer should have been taken aside by the store manage and given a warning about her behaviour towards his/her shop floor staff. It was probably too late though, as the twat had already flounced.

Reasonable adjustments need to be made for this assistant now that it can be seen that she will struggle with some aspects of working on the tills (even self-service ones) whilst customers need to wear masks.

[diddl]

It does seem as if the assistant could have looked at the screen to see if she could figure things out without the customer needing to tell her what had happened.

[LemonadeAndDaisyChains]

The woman was fucking rude - calling her an idiot? Nasty.
Not the assistant's fault if she has a hearing impediment.

"Tit for crying?"


She has every right to be upset, she's not a machine.

[NotQuiteUsual]

This is why sign language should be taught at schools. Just at a basic conversational level and finger spelling.

[Rosebel]

Retail staff are constantly abused by the public. HCW are constantly abused by the public. It sounds like they'd both had enough and just took it out on each other.
I'm wondering if the member of staff asked not to be on that department, manager insisted which is why they let the staff member go home after the incident.
I wonder how many people had a go at the HCW the night before and how many people had had a go at the assistant already that day.
I don't think either of them were wrong really. Only the manager was to blame for
a, putting a member of staff on checkouts, knowing about her disability
and b, not dealing with your issue OP.

[PurpleDaisies]

This is why sign language should be taught at schools. Just at a basic conversational level and finger spelling.

BSL relies heavily on lip pattern and facial expression. Regular face masks plus signing isn’t a good solution here. Finger spelling is really useful to know though. In this situation, writing things down or using a phone to dictate would have probably been the easiest way to communicate.

I’m very intrigued by this “hearing impaired specific checkout”. How does that work?

[sergeilavrov]

“ Woman shakes head and points to the notification on the screen whilst saying she needs help.”

Unless she had a sight related disability too, the assistant is an idiot for not looking at the screen that she saw the woman pointing at. She chose to make it about enforcing removal of a mask, which is selfish and also stupid. General mistreatment of retail workers is a problem in society, but that doesn’t mean we excuse all bad behaviour as a result.

[CatandtheFiddle]

The customer was doing the right ting by trying to protect everyone around her - not just the assistant. The evidence of how the virus is carried via droplets when we speak is mounting.

The assistant should not have commented on the mask, but should have asked for a colleague to assist.

It's very likely this shite of a government will finally see sense about the ways that face coverings protect those around us (a face covering doesn't protect you from others: it protects others from you) and require face coverings to be worn inside in public spaces.

The assistant was unreasonable - although it's understandable she got upset - shop workers have to take garbage from customers, day in, day out.

But still, in this case - the shop worker was wrong, and should have called a colleague.

And someone should have attended to the OP!

[peasaregood]

This is why sign language should be taught at schools. Just at a basic conversational level and finger spelling
paper and pen would surely be easier all round/

[Miljea]

@hellosally

why wasnt the nurse customer self isolating after exposure?

Why don't people RTFT before commenting?

It really isn't difficult. A HCP wearing appropriate PPE in dealing with Covid patients and who is wearing a mask in a supermarket is at no more risk of spreading Covid than anyone else. And probably knows how to use a mask correctly. Like not taking it off to spread droplets through speaking.

[TaggieOHara]

I feel sorry for both the assistant and the customer. It sounds like they both got flustered and upset.

It is up to Tesco’s to make adjustments for the deaf employee, so that she isn’t forced to put herself at risk to do her job. As an aside, I imagine that it is an awful time to be deaf or hard of hearing. Widespread wearing of masks, while necessary, is going to rob many people of their independence and confidence.

[Haffdonga]

If you have to choose between possibly spreading Covid and possibly being a bit muffled I know which I'd choose.

The customer wasn't just protecting the assistant by wearing a mask, she was protecting you, OP, all the rest of us too.

[Intelinside57]

I've read all the way through and I just can't work out why the assistant didn't read what the shopper was pointing at on the screen.

[justasking111]

Question is who trumps who?

Covid nurse customer, or hearing impaired Tesco employee. If mask wearing becomes compulsory which looks more and more likely, there will be more problems like this.

[Sunnyhopefulness]

I feel sorry for both of them . Have slight hearing issues myself Left over from childhood - sometimes seeing people’s lips does help . Aggressive customers also wouldn’t help - especially if it’s a regular occurrence .

A & E worker should have known better than to shout at another human being who told her she couldn’t hear - circumstances and stress make people do the wrong thing

There’s some real nastiness on here though and I hope neither party is a member and sees and takes anyone’s comments to heart

[Scotmummy1216]

To the person saying she shouldn't be in the supermarket if working with covid postive people...really?? People need to eat and have a life to even if they are a nurse on the frontline. Clearly they are taking precautions. Also she would of been wearing ppe while treating this patient. She did not need to call her an idiot however that was very rude and not necessary. I think the supermarket should reconsider where the assistant is best placed in order to help her as masks will be the norm for the foreseeable future. The assistant was also a bit rude by telling her the mask was over the top though.

[SengaStrawberry]

Removing a mask to communicate with someone who is lip reading is a explicitly set out in the guidelines.

Calling the assistant an idiot was absolutely horrible. I’m glad the manager was sympathetic.

This.

Customer sounds like an arsehole.

[vanillandhoney]

@justasking111

Question is who trumps who?

Covid nurse customer, or hearing impaired Tesco employee. If mask wearing becomes compulsory which looks more and more likely, there will be more problems like this.

Surely the person with the disability is more important here?

[DonutDolittle]

I don't think the screen explained her issue properly. The customer was getting very annoyed that she kept coming closer and I can see why she snapped, but I do think she was wrong to name call.

I also don't think "a bit deaf" automatically means disability so I wouldn't assume her manager necessarily needs to make adjustments. But she definitely needs to be moved, regardless of actual diagnosis or not. The poor woman was in a right state

I do think they both have two of the worst jobs to have at the moment and I hope they've gone home, relaxed and given a thought to how they've reacted to eachother.

[canigooutyet]

@justasking111

Question is who trumps who?

Covid nurse customer, or hearing impaired Tesco employee. If mask wearing becomes compulsory which looks more and more likely, there will be more problems like this.

Hearing impairment is protected by law. Being rude isn’t.

Someone asked about the veil, if it’s a reasonable request it is possible and the person should be offered somewhere a bit private to show their face. That’s where things start to get shaky because both have protected rights. But I’m not a legal person, so.....

[canigooutyet]

Oh but doesn’t the shop worker have to get closer to the screen to touch it to resolve the issue? Was the worker trying to move themselves from the screen?

I’m not picking honest. I’m just going through the whole process mentally beyond the light flashes and we go out with shopping. Well unless the card doesn’t work 😆