I retired in 2008 I thought I could do some voluntary work. I noticed that my local BHF charity shop was looking for volunteers. I went in to speak to the manageress to offer my services and I told her that I was hard of hearing. She was very understanding and said that my hearing loss would not be a problem. She previously worked with a deaf person and she had learned finger spelling.
The day that I started I expected to work in the “sorting area” upstairs, but Linda the manageress asked me to work on the shop floor and manage the till when necessary. At first I thought oh my goodness how will I cope with this but it was really great having contact with the customers. I walked home after that first day feeling very pleased with what I had achieved.
However, at the beginning of this year I realised that my hearing loss was getting worse and I was struggling to hear the customers. While serving one customer she was looking at something in our display cabinet and as she was looking down I could not hear what she said. I told her that I was hard of hearing and could she please repeat what she wanted. She then looked up and said ‘Oh don’t bother’ and walked out of the shop.
After that incident I decided that rather than put myself through the embarrassment and stress I would just leave. Then I thought I am not going to let one rude customer stop me from enjoying my voluntary work. After having a chat with Linda we decided that I would work sorting out the donations and tagging the clothes instead.