Great customer service.

[TheFalconInThePearTree]

Just had to share a positive shop experience today.

My mother is a support worker to a number of clients with quite severe disabilities and was shopping for small Christmas gifts for them today.

She went into a menswear store looking for brightly coloured socks for one of her clients, as one loves to play with a sock.

They were a special offer, 3 for £6 and £2.49 each, she picked one pair and took them to the desk. The manager asked if she didn't want the special deal and she said no and explained why she was purchasing the socks.

When he heard this the manager told her about his sister who has down's syndrome and how much he loves her, and said he'd give them to her for free and 2 other pairs saying he hoped her client would enjoy them.

He also said please bring the clients in any time you like and anything they want I'll give a huge discount on. Or if you just feel like a chat feel free to come along and we'll certainly make them welcome.

It's nice to hear of a store and people who really value their customers.

Oh that has brought a lump to my throat. What a lovely man.

Well he does sound really kind and well meaning but imho this perpetuates the myth that people with LD need to be pitied and patronised and treated in a special fashion.

They don't.

I understand that but it's still nice of him, and as they do have a limited income the discount is nice.

It's certainly better than the usual treatment my mother's clients receive, being asked to leave stores, being served last at restaurants even if they were practically the first to arrive and often being ignored by service staff and sales assistants.

Well obviously the other end of the spectrum is disgusting.
Sorry, I know I know I sound like a miserable cow but it is a subject close to my heart. (I am a salt for people with LD)

It was teribly kind and thoughtful.

Thats lovely - what a nice man

I can see both sides tbh.

I do think sometimes people can't do right for doing wrong iyswim.

Presumably this man has some experience of the other end of the scale where people with sn are treated apawlingly, and so he clearly wanted to show this lady that not all the world is like that. Only in doing so he has perhaps gone just a biit too far the other way and is still treating these people differently.

But he had the right intentions, which is ultimately what counts..?

I don't see it as anything other than a lovely gesture by someone who totally knows how challenging it can be living with someone with special needs. Not patronising at all. And it doesn't perpetuate any myths.

That is lovely

Poor man

All he is trying to do is to make up for some of his colleagues and now he has done it wrong again.

Of course it si horrble to be patronised. Sue Townsend the writer who is disabled once found it really hard to get a taxi, they all avoided her. Then a really nice one came over and helped her with everything. She thought it was great until he mentioned his daughter was in a wheelchair, then all of a sudden she felt that she wished he was 'just' nice, not because his daughter was disabled too.

But surely sometimes we should be able to accept a friendly gesture with a smile.

And it must be nice to ahve somewhere to take the male clients clothes shopping where they won't be stared at/treated with disdain

I don't mind being patronised with freebies