Hey you, cashier at the department store, yes you.
You know the new mum with the diagnosis of Down syndrome for her baby? Yeah her.
She doesn’t want to hear about your negative encounters with people with disabilities, particularly Down syndrome.
Or how you once had a conversation with a lady about how she couldn’t understand why people would interact with the ‘r’ word or how they “have no future” or that they are “disgusting.”
Did you think this story would make a mother feel at ease?
Did you think it would make her excited for her child’s future and the bullying you so openly find appropriate?
Yes my child has Down syndrome, like many other people that have varying differences, and this does NOT mean they are a burden to this world because of it.
Nor does it give people permission to say such foul and hurtful things.
People like you are a burden to this society, not people like my son, not those of us that are kind, and loving, and better people because of that extra chromosome.
You are not helping the world teach people to be inclusive and accepting with your inconsiderate and vulgar conversations.
I am a mum of a child with additional needs and you are nothing but a malicious excuse for a human, that cannot see the beauty, determination, joy, strength and will power of someone that is different to you.
Maybe I'm not the better person in this situation, but I'm just a mother desperate for the world to find and seek the beauty in each person.
To see them for who they are and all they are capable of. To see that really, they are not as different as you think they are and accept them for their own uniqueness.
This post was originally published on Oliver and Bee - Living Life With An Extra-Ordinary Chromosome and has been republished with full permission.
You can also follow Bianca on Instagram: @oliverbee6
Top Comments
Better yet - ask for her manager - immediately - with your sternest face on. No ifs or buts.
I am finding it difficult to understand what the cashier actually said.
I’m confused too. Because the OP appears to be saying that the cashier referred to people with a disability as the “R word”, and said they are “disgusting” and “have no future” to her and her adorable son. It’s really odd for a cashier to randomly launch into such a hurtful tirade and sounds like the rantings of someone not in their right mind. This incident should be referred firstly to the manager of the store and then to the Human Rights Commission. The cashier’s ID would be on the receipt. Discriminating against people with a disability is a very serious matter and should be dealt with accordingly.
Me too.
It actually reads like the cashier was describing a past encounter with another lady who referred to disabled people offensively. Hence the confusion.