Telling Them Until You’re Blue In The Face

(I am colorblind, but everyone calls me “Fire” because of my supposedly fire-red hair. I see a short woman trying to reach a shirt on a high shelf, and I am tall enough to reach it.)

Me: “Hello, ma’am, can I help you with that?”

Customer: “I need that blue shirt up there.”

(She waves up in the general direction.)

Me: “Which shirt?”

Customer: “It’s the only blue one up there!”

Me: “Ma’am, you’re going to need to be more specific than that. I’m colorblind.”

Customer: *obviously ignoring me* “It’s the ONLY BLUE SHIRT!”

Me: “Ma’am! I’m COLORBLIND! I can’t see blue!”

Customer: “I need to speak with you manager!”

(I go and fetch my manager, after telling him what had happened.)

Manager: “What seems to be the problem, miss?”

Customer: “She won’t get me that blue shirt!”

Manager: “My coworker has told you already that she is colorblind, and therefore cannot see the color blue.”

Customer: “It’s B-L-U-E! HOW CAN YOU NOT SEE THAT?!”

Me: “It’s a medical condition, ma’am, I can’t see colors.”

Customer: *she turns to my manager* “You get it down!”

(He retrieves the shirt and looks at it.)

Manager: “You could have just told her that it was the shirt with a heart on the front. Or you could have LISTENED when she told you multiple times that she was colorblind. Now, will that be all today?”

Customer: “Yes.”

(The woman looks incredibly angry, but I take her over to check out, and she looks down at my name tag.)

Customer: “Fire? What kind of a name is that?”

Me: “It’s a nickname, ma’am, because of my red hair.”

Customer: “You said that you were colorblind! You’re a liar! How do you know that your hair is red?”

Me: “A lot of people have told me what color my hair is.”

Customer: “Oh…”

(She picks up her bag and walks out of the store.)

Manager: “Some people just have no clue how to listen.”