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“I Was Refused Service At A Dunkin’ Donuts Because I’m Deaf”: Deaf Woman Tells Her Story And Sparks An Important Conversation
Interview
Shannon Heroux, 32, a TikTok creator dedicated to spreading awareness about deaf people, has recently released a very emotional video on her channel. In it, Shannon tearfully explained how a Los Angeles Dunkin’ Donuts refused to serve her because she was deaf and how painful this whole experience has been.
“I was confused, I couldn’t hear anything,” the woman recounted an incident that happened a while ago. “I wear a cochlear implant, but I was not wearing it at that time. I’ve never been refused service before, and it hurts,” she said with tears running down her face. According to her account, the manager refused to pull down a mask so she could lip read.
The video received 13.8 million views with the caption saying “I want to spread awareness on how this is not okay.” Immediately, it sparked a very important conversation and many people joined to show their support for Shannon.
RELATED:
This woman has recently filmed an emotional video where she tearfully explained how Dunkin’ Donuts refused to serve her because she is deaf
“When I was four years old, I lost my hearing due to a birth defect called “Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct (EVA),” Shannon Heroux told Bored Panda in an interview. “It’s a rare defect that allows brain fluid to leak into the ears drowning the hair cells. EVA is heavily associated with childhood hearing loss.’
Sadly, Shannon said that she has been treated poorly her entire life by those that didn’t understand hearing loss. “I’ve been called names, been discriminated against, and even ignored by the deaf community as well because I used hearing devices. I was also treated in ways that made people look at me differently just because I couldn’t hear,” she recounted.
However, it all changed for Shannon when she got the cochlear implant. “When I got the cochlear implant at 15, it was very life-changing and people treated me like their equals. High school was amazing because of that. Everyone knew me and saw the difference having the implant has made for me so I got treated even better because of that.”
@shannon_herouxI was refused service at a Dunkin Donuts because I’m deaf. I want to spread awareness on how this is not okay. Part one of the video. 💔♬ original sound – shannon_heroux
When it comes to the incident at Dunkin’ Donuts, Shannon was very confused about what happened. “I didn’t know how to feel. After I left the establishment, a huge wave of emotions came over me and I realized how I was discriminated against for my hearing disability.”
The incident made her realize how much discrimination has occurred during this pandemic and how much more of it she experienced the last 1.5 years compared to entire life. “It was time to step up and spread awareness and get people to understand that this is emotionally exhausting and unbelievably stressful on mental health,” Shannon told us.
Shannon then met with the Dunkin’ Donuts manager, who apologized and they talked through the possible solutions
Image credits: sionnan_x3
@shannon_herouxMy meeting with the franchise owner of the Encino DD. #fyp #deafawareness #dunkindonuts♬ original sound – shannon_heroux
Image credits: Chris Waits
Shannon explained that “being deaf is not a visible disability so no one should ever be judged or questioned about it.”
“I wish people would be more understanding that not every deaf person is equal in regards to their hearing loss. Many of us rely on lip reading and it’s how we communicate effectively with or without hearing devices. It’s important for those that are able to, take that little extra step to help create a good communicative environment to prevent any humility or discomfort for all.”
Moreover, deaf people are more capable than they are given credit for. “The masks are a big hindrance for communicating so just please be mindful if someone needs some extra assistance!”
The incident sparked a very important conversation and many people joined to share their experiences and show support for Shannon
What do you think ?
Lara Verne 3 years ago
I understand why manager was reluctant to pull his mask down, but refusing to write anything, when she said she can't hear him? D*ck.
Monday 3 years ago
Yeah, can't blame the employees for not taking off their masks, who knows what policies and punishments they content with along with the covid risk, but it would have taken next to no time to just write something down.
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Rens 3 years ago
Unfortunately this is happening all the time with people who have invisible disabilities. I live in the UK and I always wear a lanyard around my neck with my keys and some cards; my lanyard is green with sunflowers which represents invisible disabilities and the various cards I carry with me explain my invisible disabilities, as well as my contact person. I have a face mask exemption card due to my anxiety and breathing issues. I have mobility issues and sometimes I end up slurring my words as if I'm drunk because of my chronic fatigue. I know that my lanyard isn't guaranteed to make people understand but so far in the year I've been wearing, it people have been quite supportive and I have not yet had a nasty comment. The irony is, the most trouble I've had was from a resident in my building who was going around telling people that "someone like me" shouldn't be living here. A little bit of empathy goes a very long way. 💚🌻💚
Suz66 3 years ago
Omg! I'm sorry you experienced that. I too have invisible disabilities. I have autoimmune disease which creates crushing fatigue and pain. On a bad day, I need to use my parking placard. I only use it when I really can't walk far and need to open up my door wider because of pain. I get dirty looks sometimes. People are quick to judge.
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Robert T 3 years ago
Is this not disability discrimination? In the UK we have laws that protect against this and companies can get into serious trouble if they fail to comply. I'd throw the book at them.
fuggnuggins 3 years ago
@Rissie - she says she was refused service. Not that she couldn't make an order. She was presumably refused service based on that she was not wearing a mask. That they all had their faces covered, she could not read their lips to understand what the issue was. To have someone come at you irate about something you don't understand can be uncomfortable, maybe upsetting. Yet, here we are, in sophisticated society, mature adults with the wealth of human knowledge at our fingertips, enlightened and liberated, treating one another like animals do because we're having a state sanctioned and encouraged lymbic moment. Woman wants a coffee. The gall.
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Gina Beatty 3 years ago
Me and one of my employees are learning ASL for this very reason. I run a small market/diner out in the country and have 4 regular customers who are deaf. It's the least we can do for their continued patronage
Carney 3 years ago
I'm not sure what makes me angrier: the incident related here or how so many who responded here are blaming the victim. You really have absolutely no idea what deaf people go through daily and, worse, you couldn't care less. If you knew anything at all about silent disabilities, you would understand that this woman was merely trying to live her life the best she can. She isn't asking for anything special, just respect and acceptance. That you don't care how she was treated and are explaining away the wrong is just pathetic. No she SHOULD NOT have wear the uncomfortable implant at all times. NO she should NOT have to constantly explain her issues. But, hey...you know what it's like, right? Go ahead, blame this woman. She must be stupid or ignorant right? She was the one who was wrong. Yep...that's what you blamers always think, isn't it?
deanna woods 3 years ago
The victim blaming is making me mad the most. These people are making excuses for someone behaving like a jerk.
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Heliocracy 3 years ago
What the Dunkin' employees did is illegal in the U.S. The Americans with Disabilities Act. She could sue and probably get a big settlement or award. The store manager should be fired for exposing the Company to legal liability like that.
Sur Mer 3 years ago
She didn't think to just put her order in writing on a piece of paper or on her smartphone? "I am deaf, here is my order". No tears, no drama.
Carney 3 years ago
Here is an experiment that will help answer your thoughtless and ignorant comment: stuff some ear plugs into your ears. Put a mask over your eyes. Tie up a foot so you have to limp. Now go out into the world. Go to a coffee shop. Go to a bank. Go anywhere. Try to talk with people. Try to get them to pay attention. Now, do you even begin to understand? Probably not. Blaming the victim is so much easier than trying to grasp the struggle some go through just trying to do "normal things." It's a pity that you are going through life with such lack of empathy and understanding.
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Vicky Z 3 years ago
This is what all these assholes entitled customers cause in the end! They make the employees cynical and not caring because they are fed up with this s**t! Don't want to justify the employees cause for sure they could have written down everything and help, but i can understand that lowering the mask is scary and that in most cases the demand would come from an asshole and not from a deaf person! Glad they apologized and i hope she never has to deal with this issue again
chrissy goodman 3 years ago
i have a friend who is both blind and deaf and around 80% of the time ppl dont believe her bc she speaks so well. she was born deaf but a car accident left her permenantly blind due to windsheild glass shattering into her eyes. she gets hurt wen she has to take off her sunglasses to show ppl the scars and her cloudy eyes wen they dont believe shes blind and gets hurt wen ppl dont believe shes deaf just bc she can speak so well. she has been blind for 10 years so to her the emotional wound is still fresh and being able to never hear any sound will always hurt her bc one of her favorite things to do was to go to concerts and watch the musicians play she always said to me "i wish i could hear it and not just feel the vibrations and see their passion of playing their music." every time ive been with her weve used our own way of communicating we even did this before she was blind its like wen kids make up their own secret language with their best friend. we literally will write wat we want to say on each others back with our finger. basically that guessing game kids used to play before cellphones and stuff. weve done it for so long that it works for us. however wen store clerks or restaurant staff see us do this they think its odd wen she talks and most the time dont believe shes deaf. weve started using morse code in public places now bc that 20% seems to b nonexsistent these days but occassionally we will meet those few ppl who see us talking in our way and ask me about it and then tell me to tell her how strong she is for living in a difficult world. now if ur wondering how the morse code works i tap her wrist of hand. i am going to say that unfortunately the 80% of ppl who treat her disrespectfully and call her a liar r usually anywhere between 25 and 35 roughly sometimes younger but i dont get mad at the younger bc theyve probably never experienced a deaf or blind customer before. the group that believes her and feels bad and thinks shes a strong person and brave for going out into the world regardless of her disabilities they r usually 65 and older. not every young person we come across is rude but most r. i myself if i never wear glasses or contacts i would b considered partially blind i can only see shapes and colors without my glasses and i was born that way we always made the joke that all we need is a mute friend and wed b like those 3 monkeys see no evil hear no evil speak no evil. as much as my friend tries to make the best of her situation, as much as i, her sisters and brothers and my 2 other friends help her out the ppl of this world r there to bring her feelings crashing down. i honestly wish every time someone has shown disrespect to her i could just slap them and say "how would u feel if this situation was reversed" id bet my life they either wouldnt kno how to answer or theyd feel like the scum of the earth. i even tried going to different places and i didnt wear my glasses 50% of the ppl i encountered didnt believe that i couldnt truly see. one restaurant i asked if the waitress could read wat kind of pastas they had for me. she scoffed at me and said do it urself so i explained i can only see shapes and all the words look like lines not letters and she still refused. i asked for the manager explained and he gladly read them for me. i came back a week later with my friend and the manager remembered me and told me he informed the entire staff how some customers might have communication issues like blindness and deafness and if anyone doesnt comply to their needs they will b given only 1 warning. i pulled the manager aside and pulled out my glasses and told him everything he wasnt even mad he thought wat i did for my friend was impressive and honorable. i told him i wasnt expecting the whole staff to b informed about this stuff after a complaint about 1 waitress well aparently his mother has lost her hearing with old age so he was sympathetic to the situation and they do get elderly customers and a few deaf so the conversation was bound to happen. we go there every time we hang out now and let me tell u my friend seems to b more cheerful bc we have a place with awesome food and an awesome staff to go to now and no one doubts her or calls her a liar. that one waitress still dislikes me but idc she seemed like an entitled brat anyways lol
Hans 3 years ago (edited)
Frankly, it is too easy to blame the employees at the place. Yes, they should be more sensitive and should have received better training. But very likely they over and over had to deal with COVID deniers and mask refusers for the last months, hearing any kind of reason for not wearing a mask, including alleged medical conditions. Despite the obvious mistake the employees made in this case, chances are that the COVID deniers and mask refusers are the ones to really blame.
Kari Panda 3 years ago
But the woman herself DID wear a mask. And the manager could have just used pen&paper. I could only imagine that they had people before who tried to play a prank on them by pretending to be deaf. Even then, I‘d rather risk being victim to a prank again than risk to hurt of offend a hearing impaired person.
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Suz66 3 years ago
That's awful. I can't imagine trying to read lips with masks. They handed it very poorly by refusing to write it down. Several years ago, I had a throat injury and was on voice rest for 3 months, (my then-husband was elated! Lol!) I carried around a little chalkboard to communicate. I would go to restaurants and stores when it. I would write "voice problems, I need to use this chalkboard." I never had anyone give me grief about it. Maybe she should bring in a sign that says, "hearing-impaired, please communicate in writing," or something. But they treated her awfully bad.
AzKhaleesi 3 years ago
I saw this on Tik Tok and me and my soon to be hubby wanted to go get her and get her all of her favorite drinks. And also punch that guy in the d**k. Absolutely disgusting. Poor girl.
deanna woods 3 years ago
My sister used to work with a deaf lady and in fact, they used to live next door to each other. My sister was always kind to her and tried to be respectful of her. On another note, this same lady is a customer of the restaurant I work at. Even at the beginning of the pandemic, we tried our hardest to accommodate her since she couldn't see our mouth anymore. I also had a delivery customer that was deaf and even though I was wearing a mask, I tried very hard to accommodate her condition. Deafness may be am invisible disability, but when someone tells you that they can't hear you, you need to be respectful and accommodating rather than rude and difficult.
Marco Conti 3 years ago
I understand how stressful it would be to be deaf and being refused service. Nevertheless, we are in a pandemic and employees have to follow rules. I don't have a cochlear implant and I don't know how difficult it may be to wear, but if I were deaf and didn't have my implant, I'd probably go around either with an iPad where I could type, or I'd take the low tech approach and buy a paper sized dry/erase board to write on. Possibly with two markers and some antibacterial gel so the employee can use it too. At a drive in it may be harder, but people speaking different languages use gestures all the time with good results. I have a feeling there is a bit more to this story, but I also think Dunkin should have made a bit more of an effort. In fact, we all have to make more of an effort before we go on Tik Tok or Instagram.
Axolotl King 3 years ago
Wow. I'm taking ASL this year in school and I find it so sad that she had to go through that. We really need more support for deaf, blind, disabled, etc. people. I live in the US so it may different elsewhere but I feel like the needs of deaf, blind, disabled, etc. people aren't payed attention to as much as they should be in this day and age.
Mad Mar 3 years ago
I read lips to help w hear loss. Masks totally screwed me back up. I don't complain for health N safety but when there is plexiglass and I'm wearing a mask an the customer is wearing a mask and I've gotten my shots, I'd like to be able to decide to wear my mask or not. But company policy is to wear it so I do. But I have a hard times hearing through plastic and not seeing the person speaking so I constantly have to go "can you speak up?" "Can you repete that?" Even to the point of having people write stuff down for me. Oh an lots of people when asked for information like a phone number, please go slow and clear. People talk too fast or trail off at the end or turn their heads an I lose the sound complexity. I think I'll start wearing a pin that says hearing impaired.
oddball0626 3 years ago
Starbucks: "Welcome to Starbucks!, what can I get for you today?" Dunkin: "What do you want!?" Not surprised Dunkin is always rude where I live.
Zedrapazia 3 years ago
I blame the people that pretend to be deaf because they dislike wearing/seeing masks for that.
Julie C Rose 3 years ago
Yeah. The employee was in the wrong and should have come up with something else like writing it down or something, but I can understand why it happened. It’s an all around s**t sandwich of a situation.
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BoredHuman 3 years ago (edited)
This woman did have an implant and knew there was a mask policy in place then she should have worn it or written down her order. I am sure the issue was not because she was deaf. Customer service clerks are dealing with a lot and are assaulted every day . This woman made this issue about discrimination when it was not. This is about her own self entitlement and her own stupidity. You cannot expect people to remove masks because you have forgotten your implant. Why didn't she pre-write her order.
Arctic Fox Lover 3 years ago
I think it should be standard and normalized to learn sign language along with whatever verbal/hearing language you'd learn as a baby or toddler. We're learning/we learned ASL in my language class because they, too, think it should be a common standard. Please don't bully people because they're deaf/blind/both. They can't help it. So sorry if it inconveniences you because you now have to--*dramatic sobbing*---write stuff down and/or try your best to speak their language and communicate with your fellow human being! *Cry cry cry sniffle sniffle world's tiniest violin*
Tracy 3 years ago
Some do, especially if they weren't born deaf, and the woman in this post wasn't.
Load More Replies... Trisec 3 years ago
Article doesn't say where, but the picture is the Dunk's in Chinatown, Boston.
Tracy 3 years ago
She said she can speak clearly, so she doesn't need to write anything down. She wanted the manager to write.
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Gin 3 years ago
People can drive when deaf in most countries. Implants can cause muscle spasms and numbness. Cochlear implants require regular maintenance with expensive batteries, they need to replace wires and processors - it is a very expensive and time consuming process to keep them maintained. Sometimes people face irritation and infection around the implant. They are a great invention but far from perfect.
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Lara Verne 3 years ago
I understand why manager was reluctant to pull his mask down, but refusing to write anything, when she said she can't hear him? D*ck.
Monday 3 years ago
Yeah, can't blame the employees for not taking off their masks, who knows what policies and punishments they content with along with the covid risk, but it would have taken next to no time to just write something down.
Load More Replies... Rens 3 years ago
Unfortunately this is happening all the time with people who have invisible disabilities. I live in the UK and I always wear a lanyard around my neck with my keys and some cards; my lanyard is green with sunflowers which represents invisible disabilities and the various cards I carry with me explain my invisible disabilities, as well as my contact person. I have a face mask exemption card due to my anxiety and breathing issues. I have mobility issues and sometimes I end up slurring my words as if I'm drunk because of my chronic fatigue. I know that my lanyard isn't guaranteed to make people understand but so far in the year I've been wearing, it people have been quite supportive and I have not yet had a nasty comment. The irony is, the most trouble I've had was from a resident in my building who was going around telling people that "someone like me" shouldn't be living here. A little bit of empathy goes a very long way. 💚🌻💚
Suz66 3 years ago
Omg! I'm sorry you experienced that. I too have invisible disabilities. I have autoimmune disease which creates crushing fatigue and pain. On a bad day, I need to use my parking placard. I only use it when I really can't walk far and need to open up my door wider because of pain. I get dirty looks sometimes. People are quick to judge.
Load More Replies... Robert T 3 years ago
Is this not disability discrimination? In the UK we have laws that protect against this and companies can get into serious trouble if they fail to comply. I'd throw the book at them.
fuggnuggins 3 years ago
@Rissie - she says she was refused service. Not that she couldn't make an order. She was presumably refused service based on that she was not wearing a mask. That they all had their faces covered, she could not read their lips to understand what the issue was. To have someone come at you irate about something you don't understand can be uncomfortable, maybe upsetting. Yet, here we are, in sophisticated society, mature adults with the wealth of human knowledge at our fingertips, enlightened and liberated, treating one another like animals do because we're having a state sanctioned and encouraged lymbic moment. Woman wants a coffee. The gall.
Load More Replies... Gina Beatty 3 years ago
Me and one of my employees are learning ASL for this very reason. I run a small market/diner out in the country and have 4 regular customers who are deaf. It's the least we can do for their continued patronage
Carney 3 years ago
I'm not sure what makes me angrier: the incident related here or how so many who responded here are blaming the victim. You really have absolutely no idea what deaf people go through daily and, worse, you couldn't care less. If you knew anything at all about silent disabilities, you would understand that this woman was merely trying to live her life the best she can. She isn't asking for anything special, just respect and acceptance. That you don't care how she was treated and are explaining away the wrong is just pathetic. No she SHOULD NOT have wear the uncomfortable implant at all times. NO she should NOT have to constantly explain her issues. But, hey...you know what it's like, right? Go ahead, blame this woman. She must be stupid or ignorant right? She was the one who was wrong. Yep...that's what you blamers always think, isn't it?
deanna woods 3 years ago
The victim blaming is making me mad the most. These people are making excuses for someone behaving like a jerk.
Load More Replies... Heliocracy 3 years ago
What the Dunkin' employees did is illegal in the U.S. The Americans with Disabilities Act. She could sue and probably get a big settlement or award. The store manager should be fired for exposing the Company to legal liability like that.
Sur Mer 3 years ago
She didn't think to just put her order in writing on a piece of paper or on her smartphone? "I am deaf, here is my order". No tears, no drama.
Carney 3 years ago
Here is an experiment that will help answer your thoughtless and ignorant comment: stuff some ear plugs into your ears. Put a mask over your eyes. Tie up a foot so you have to limp. Now go out into the world. Go to a coffee shop. Go to a bank. Go anywhere. Try to talk with people. Try to get them to pay attention. Now, do you even begin to understand? Probably not. Blaming the victim is so much easier than trying to grasp the struggle some go through just trying to do "normal things." It's a pity that you are going through life with such lack of empathy and understanding.
Load More Replies... Vicky Z 3 years ago
This is what all these assholes entitled customers cause in the end! They make the employees cynical and not caring because they are fed up with this s**t! Don't want to justify the employees cause for sure they could have written down everything and help, but i can understand that lowering the mask is scary and that in most cases the demand would come from an asshole and not from a deaf person! Glad they apologized and i hope she never has to deal with this issue again
chrissy goodman 3 years ago
i have a friend who is both blind and deaf and around 80% of the time ppl dont believe her bc she speaks so well. she was born deaf but a car accident left her permenantly blind due to windsheild glass shattering into her eyes. she gets hurt wen she has to take off her sunglasses to show ppl the scars and her cloudy eyes wen they dont believe shes blind and gets hurt wen ppl dont believe shes deaf just bc she can speak so well. she has been blind for 10 years so to her the emotional wound is still fresh and being able to never hear any sound will always hurt her bc one of her favorite things to do was to go to concerts and watch the musicians play she always said to me "i wish i could hear it and not just feel the vibrations and see their passion of playing their music." every time ive been with her weve used our own way of communicating we even did this before she was blind its like wen kids make up their own secret language with their best friend. we literally will write wat we want to say on each others back with our finger. basically that guessing game kids used to play before cellphones and stuff. weve done it for so long that it works for us. however wen store clerks or restaurant staff see us do this they think its odd wen she talks and most the time dont believe shes deaf. weve started using morse code in public places now bc that 20% seems to b nonexsistent these days but occassionally we will meet those few ppl who see us talking in our way and ask me about it and then tell me to tell her how strong she is for living in a difficult world. now if ur wondering how the morse code works i tap her wrist of hand. i am going to say that unfortunately the 80% of ppl who treat her disrespectfully and call her a liar r usually anywhere between 25 and 35 roughly sometimes younger but i dont get mad at the younger bc theyve probably never experienced a deaf or blind customer before. the group that believes her and feels bad and thinks shes a strong person and brave for going out into the world regardless of her disabilities they r usually 65 and older. not every young person we come across is rude but most r. i myself if i never wear glasses or contacts i would b considered partially blind i can only see shapes and colors without my glasses and i was born that way we always made the joke that all we need is a mute friend and wed b like those 3 monkeys see no evil hear no evil speak no evil. as much as my friend tries to make the best of her situation, as much as i, her sisters and brothers and my 2 other friends help her out the ppl of this world r there to bring her feelings crashing down. i honestly wish every time someone has shown disrespect to her i could just slap them and say "how would u feel if this situation was reversed" id bet my life they either wouldnt kno how to answer or theyd feel like the scum of the earth. i even tried going to different places and i didnt wear my glasses 50% of the ppl i encountered didnt believe that i couldnt truly see. one restaurant i asked if the waitress could read wat kind of pastas they had for me. she scoffed at me and said do it urself so i explained i can only see shapes and all the words look like lines not letters and she still refused. i asked for the manager explained and he gladly read them for me. i came back a week later with my friend and the manager remembered me and told me he informed the entire staff how some customers might have communication issues like blindness and deafness and if anyone doesnt comply to their needs they will b given only 1 warning. i pulled the manager aside and pulled out my glasses and told him everything he wasnt even mad he thought wat i did for my friend was impressive and honorable. i told him i wasnt expecting the whole staff to b informed about this stuff after a complaint about 1 waitress well aparently his mother has lost her hearing with old age so he was sympathetic to the situation and they do get elderly customers and a few deaf so the conversation was bound to happen. we go there every time we hang out now and let me tell u my friend seems to b more cheerful bc we have a place with awesome food and an awesome staff to go to now and no one doubts her or calls her a liar. that one waitress still dislikes me but idc she seemed like an entitled brat anyways lol
Hans 3 years ago (edited)
Frankly, it is too easy to blame the employees at the place. Yes, they should be more sensitive and should have received better training. But very likely they over and over had to deal with COVID deniers and mask refusers for the last months, hearing any kind of reason for not wearing a mask, including alleged medical conditions. Despite the obvious mistake the employees made in this case, chances are that the COVID deniers and mask refusers are the ones to really blame.
Kari Panda 3 years ago
But the woman herself DID wear a mask. And the manager could have just used pen&paper. I could only imagine that they had people before who tried to play a prank on them by pretending to be deaf. Even then, I‘d rather risk being victim to a prank again than risk to hurt of offend a hearing impaired person.
Load More Replies... Suz66 3 years ago
That's awful. I can't imagine trying to read lips with masks. They handed it very poorly by refusing to write it down. Several years ago, I had a throat injury and was on voice rest for 3 months, (my then-husband was elated! Lol!) I carried around a little chalkboard to communicate. I would go to restaurants and stores when it. I would write "voice problems, I need to use this chalkboard." I never had anyone give me grief about it. Maybe she should bring in a sign that says, "hearing-impaired, please communicate in writing," or something. But they treated her awfully bad.
AzKhaleesi 3 years ago
I saw this on Tik Tok and me and my soon to be hubby wanted to go get her and get her all of her favorite drinks. And also punch that guy in the d**k. Absolutely disgusting. Poor girl.
deanna woods 3 years ago
My sister used to work with a deaf lady and in fact, they used to live next door to each other. My sister was always kind to her and tried to be respectful of her. On another note, this same lady is a customer of the restaurant I work at. Even at the beginning of the pandemic, we tried our hardest to accommodate her since she couldn't see our mouth anymore. I also had a delivery customer that was deaf and even though I was wearing a mask, I tried very hard to accommodate her condition. Deafness may be am invisible disability, but when someone tells you that they can't hear you, you need to be respectful and accommodating rather than rude and difficult.
Marco Conti 3 years ago
I understand how stressful it would be to be deaf and being refused service. Nevertheless, we are in a pandemic and employees have to follow rules. I don't have a cochlear implant and I don't know how difficult it may be to wear, but if I were deaf and didn't have my implant, I'd probably go around either with an iPad where I could type, or I'd take the low tech approach and buy a paper sized dry/erase board to write on. Possibly with two markers and some antibacterial gel so the employee can use it too. At a drive in it may be harder, but people speaking different languages use gestures all the time with good results. I have a feeling there is a bit more to this story, but I also think Dunkin should have made a bit more of an effort. In fact, we all have to make more of an effort before we go on Tik Tok or Instagram.
Axolotl King 3 years ago
Wow. I'm taking ASL this year in school and I find it so sad that she had to go through that. We really need more support for deaf, blind, disabled, etc. people. I live in the US so it may different elsewhere but I feel like the needs of deaf, blind, disabled, etc. people aren't payed attention to as much as they should be in this day and age.
Mad Mar 3 years ago
I read lips to help w hear loss. Masks totally screwed me back up. I don't complain for health N safety but when there is plexiglass and I'm wearing a mask an the customer is wearing a mask and I've gotten my shots, I'd like to be able to decide to wear my mask or not. But company policy is to wear it so I do. But I have a hard times hearing through plastic and not seeing the person speaking so I constantly have to go "can you speak up?" "Can you repete that?" Even to the point of having people write stuff down for me. Oh an lots of people when asked for information like a phone number, please go slow and clear. People talk too fast or trail off at the end or turn their heads an I lose the sound complexity. I think I'll start wearing a pin that says hearing impaired.
oddball0626 3 years ago
Starbucks: "Welcome to Starbucks!, what can I get for you today?" Dunkin: "What do you want!?" Not surprised Dunkin is always rude where I live.
Zedrapazia 3 years ago
I blame the people that pretend to be deaf because they dislike wearing/seeing masks for that.
Julie C Rose 3 years ago
Yeah. The employee was in the wrong and should have come up with something else like writing it down or something, but I can understand why it happened. It’s an all around s**t sandwich of a situation.
Load More Replies... BoredHuman 3 years ago (edited)
This woman did have an implant and knew there was a mask policy in place then she should have worn it or written down her order. I am sure the issue was not because she was deaf. Customer service clerks are dealing with a lot and are assaulted every day . This woman made this issue about discrimination when it was not. This is about her own self entitlement and her own stupidity. You cannot expect people to remove masks because you have forgotten your implant. Why didn't she pre-write her order.
Arctic Fox Lover 3 years ago
I think it should be standard and normalized to learn sign language along with whatever verbal/hearing language you'd learn as a baby or toddler. We're learning/we learned ASL in my language class because they, too, think it should be a common standard. Please don't bully people because they're deaf/blind/both. They can't help it. So sorry if it inconveniences you because you now have to--*dramatic sobbing*---write stuff down and/or try your best to speak their language and communicate with your fellow human being! *Cry cry cry sniffle sniffle world's tiniest violin*
Tracy 3 years ago
Some do, especially if they weren't born deaf, and the woman in this post wasn't.
Load More Replies... Trisec 3 years ago
Article doesn't say where, but the picture is the Dunk's in Chinatown, Boston.
Tracy 3 years ago
She said she can speak clearly, so she doesn't need to write anything down. She wanted the manager to write.
Load More Replies... Gin 3 years ago
People can drive when deaf in most countries. Implants can cause muscle spasms and numbness. Cochlear implants require regular maintenance with expensive batteries, they need to replace wires and processors - it is a very expensive and time consuming process to keep them maintained. Sometimes people face irritation and infection around the implant. They are a great invention but far from perfect.
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