Don’t. Touch. Employees. Or Anyone Else!
I’m an autistic fifteen-year-old boy. I’m 5’9” and rapidly growing. I am very fluent in English, so others think I’m an employee when I go shopping with my mom. I explain that I don’t work there and that I’m a minor just getting stuff for my mom to pay for. Most understand… MOST.
I am picking out stuff in the supermarket in the mall, wearing basketball shoes and pants, a T-shirt, and a black jacket. Employees here wear black shoes, black pants, green shirts, white aprons, and green caps. I’m wearing headphones, listening to music on my phone, picking out stuff to bring to my mom. The supermarket where I’m picking stuff is quite popular for people from out of town, but it’s located in a small town, so most of us know each other.
I’m picking out some stuff from the shelf and I feel a tap on my shoulder. Thinking it’s my mom, I turn around and take out my headphones, but oh, no, it’s not my mom.
Customer: “Hey, do you know where the coffee aisle is?”
Me: “Yes, it’s about two aisles to your right.”
Customer: “No, it isn’t. I looked there earlier and there was no coffee.”
Me: “Oh? Well, okay. I’ll just call one of the employees to bring down some coffee from the boxes.”
Customer: “No, I won’t wait for that long. You do it.”
Me: *Confused* “Pardon?”
Customer: “You bring down the coffee.”
Me: “Ma’am, I’m not an employee here. I’m not even eighteen.”
Customer: “Don’t make excuses. I know you work here. I don’t pay for these products to give a paycheck to employees like you.”
Me: “Ma’am, I’m not an employee here. As I said, I’m only fifteen, and I’d like to finish getting stuff for my mom to pay for.”
Customer: “No, you are going to help me, or I’ll get your manager.”
I’ve had enough, so I put on my headphones and start walking away. The woman decides to yank the headphones off my head, damaging the left lobe to the point that it’s attached to the headphone via the wires.
Me: “What the heck, lady?!”
Customer: “Where’s your manager?! I want to speak with him!”
Me: *Pissed off* “How many times do I have to say this?! I’M NOT AN EMPLOYEE HERE! I DON’T EVEN HAVE THE NAMEPLATE NOR THE UNIFORM!”
Customer: “Get me your manager so I can get you fired!”
Me: “I told you many times, I DON’T WORK HERE! ARE YOU BLIND? DEAF? OR BOTH?”
The woman then proceeds to slap me. She starts pulling me by my jacket sleeve. I do get free, and I start screaming, berating her to the point that she leaves. I say to myself, “Finally, it’s over.” Or so I thought.
A while later, the same lady shows up again, this time with someone who I presume is the manager.
Customer: “There! That’s him! That’s the employee that assaulted me! I want him fired right this instant!”
Manager: “Ma’am, what? He isn’t an employee; he’s just a regular here.”
The woman then proceeds to start shouting at the manager and screaming racism at me at every opportunity. A crowd starts to form, and my mom, who has been looking for me, finally sees the commotion.
Mom: *Confused* “What’s happening, and what happened to you?”
I told her everything that had happened.
The woman was finally seeing that she wasn’t getting anything out of the manager, so she walked over to me, grabbed me by my shirt collar, and started pulling me toward the manager.
I had truly had enough of her touching me, so I pulled her hand off me and started to physically retaliate. After I landed a gut punch, my mom pulled me away and the woman started screaming, saying to get the police, her lawyer, and the local judge.
Some people in the crowd attempted to defend the woman’s actions, but the manager defended me.
After ten or fifteen minutes, the police arrived and take statements from me, the manager, the woman, my mom, and the bystanders. They checked the security footage, which showed I was dragged against my own will and that the woman did in fact assault me first. My mom showed my ID, proving I was fifteen years of age.
The police then arrested the woman. One of the officers asked if I want to press charges and I happily agreed.
She was hit with a variety of charges, including assault and resisting arrest; she kicked an officer in the leg. We went to court. The woman and her lawyer denied everything she had done. After the evidence was presented, the trial was done in three hours. She was sentenced to pay a fine of up to php15,000 — about 300USD — and a prison sentence of about five years.