Might Need Their Eyes Checked, Too

(To get fabric cut, customers take a ticket with a number instead of waiting in a line.)

Me: “Number 38! I’d be happy to help number 38!”

(No one answers, so I use the phone system to send a page through the whole store.) 

Me: “We’re now helping 38 at the cut counter. 38 to the cut counter!”

(No response, so I wait for several seconds and then move on.)

Me: “Number 39!”

(A woman, who has been talking to friends, but is standing next to the phone I just paged from, turns to me.)

Woman: “Excuse you, what about 38?!”

Me: *already helping 39* “I’m sorry, I’ll put you in the line right after her. I called a couple of times and I didn’t hear you respond.”

Woman: “You don’t know what it’s like to be hard of hearing. You don’t know!”

(I help her as soon as I can, and she tells me three or four more times that I’d have better customer service if I could understand what it’s like to be hard of hearing. Eventually, I finish the cut, and she leaves.) 

Me: *turns silently to coworker*

Coworker: *wordlessly points to my visible hearing aids*

Coworker & Me: *dramatic fake shrugs*