Discrimination

Yes, this is a topic that I experienced while dealing with a sports injury and it really bothered me. Part of it people not looking at what is around them but the other part is how I was specifically treated while in a store.

I recently sprained my ankle and was told to help it heal quicker that I should use crutches for a few days to help me get around. Now, crutches are something that you see a lot of especially as a result of some sort of sports injury so they aren't something new. Well, we decided that even with me being on crutches it would be good to get out and get some walking in so we headed off to a mall so that I could do the walking without dealing with the weather as well.

It is interesting watching people walking around a mall because so many people don't seem to look ahead to see what is in front of them. There were instances that people were pretty close to walking into me before they even noticed I was there. Of course, the crutches mean that I can't move out of the way as quickly as I normally would so I had to stop a few times to avoid being walked into. This wasn't too bad an issue it was what happened in a store that really got to me.

During the mall walk I said that I wanted to go into one store to look for a top that I have seen in a different location but not my size. I walked into the store and the sales person was there greeting customers as they came in but I didn't get a greeting but the person behind me did. Now that was the start of the visit into the store. I was looking for a specific top and was trying to see where it would be located in the store. A couple of other sales people walked by me without even acknowledging me or asking if I could use any assistance. I finally got into one area of the store to see if I could find the top only to be asked by a sales person to move so that they could hang up something close to where I was standing. The sales person got rather upset when I said that she would have to walk around a display to get to the area because it wasn't so easy for me to move quickly on the crutches (I don't think she even thought about that issue). Again, I wasn't asked if I was looking for something or just browsing. The final issue was when I was trying to head out of the store and I had ended up close to the fitting rooms and as I was making my way through one small area another sales lady headed toward me heading to the fitting room. She didn't say anything because I think she saw on my face that I was extremely frustrated. So, to sum it up I walked the entire store without anyone asking if I needed assistance or even acknowledging me as a customer other than to tell me to get out of a sales person's way.

I cannot believe that in the world today someone can be treated like that in a store. I have been a frequent shopper in this chain but now that I have been treated like this I am going to rethink of where I do my shopping.

Well Cleo, you have shown me a few ways that you don't respect or care out some of your customers. If you greet people are the door make sure you greet everyone not just people you think may shop in your store. Every customer that comes into your store should be treated with respect as you never know if they are going to buy one thing or an entire wardrobe.