DISCRIMINATION OR NOT??

Once a week I go swimming with my son, we have been going to the local swimming pool for 25 years and we have a great time laughing and messing about between our average ten lengths of swimming.  Swimming is from 12 -1pm but we are usually late and get about forty minutes, minus the time chatting to people we bump into (not physically) in the water, people we haven't seen in years.  Now both my son and I are deaf and not once has there been a complaint about the amount of noise we make as we cannot swim wearing out hearing aids, at most people come to see what is so funny and at least they just smile as they swim past us.

Now then, on the other hand I have been working in my current job for three years (wearing my hearing aids) and not once in all this time has any member of staff had cause to tell me that I am speaking a bit too loud, or so I thought, there I am merrily working away with all the candidates having a bit of a chat and greeting them at reception taking ID and details without a murmur from customers or colleagues.  Then WHAM!! During my one to one with my Manager she told me that she has noticed that the busier we get, the louder I get and asked me “How are we going to address this?”  I was mortified and feeling under pressure I said that I would ask my colleagues to tell me if I get too loud.  Well this didn't go down so well in practice as it did in theory and I ended up very unhappy and distressed.  My confidence evaporated and I every time I started to talk to a customer I was so conscious of not raising my voice that I stopped being chatty and friendly.  My husband and my son wanted to speak to my Manager about it but I said no. I would deal with it and I looked up some disability in the work place organisations and support groups and my husband spoke with his company's union rep and with all the information I gathered I wrote an email asking my Manager to arrange a meeting for her, the Regional Manager and myself.  The Regional Manager said he would not come unless my Manager could not resolve whatever issues I had.  Anyway, surprise, surprise it was my colleagues complaining that had caused my Manager to speak to me.  She told me that my colleagues didn't want to upset me by saying anything.  I was appalled to hear this because I actually asked some of them if they found me to get too loud and after hesitating they had all said not at all…………..

I couldn't believe it; by not saying something they have caused more upset than by doing the decent thing and having a quiet word with me.  To cap it all, not only have my colleagues also stopped working with me on the reception desk, by finding some online training or other 'jobs' to do that keep them away from the reception area while I am there. I let my Manager know that I am keeping a diary of things happening at work that don’t seem right to me.

I am also very aware of the camaraderie between the other staff, I can see thmm on my cameras, grouped together talking and I can hear their voices as they talk and laugh and I feel isolated and excluded. I have been told about a night out that is being arranged but I haven't been invited which tells me they are probable too embarrassed to be seen (heard) with me.  I did think I was being a bit paranoid but not anymore, not now that I have confirmation of the complaint about my loudness.

During my meeting with my Manager she mentioned the fact that on my annual self-assessment I have reported that I have never had a risk assessment in three years and she has arranged for me to have one later this month.  I am waiting for this meeting to find out why there hasn't been any Deaf Awareness training as this could have pinpointed issues such as my volume when in a loud environment and how to deal with it.  I think it is too little too late as my colleagues have already 'weighed, measured and found me wanting'.  Finally, my Manager asked me why I was not at the Christmas Meal and I told her "I didn't come because I am not part of the team".  The Manager wasn't happy and tried to tell me that I am part of the team but I know I never will be because the "team" has badly damaged my self-confidence and I will never be able to feel like one of them.  Meanwhile, I shall wait and see what the outcome of this sorry business is and keep my head down while I do my job to the best of my ability. 

Colleagues like these!

I hate it when I have nightmares about going to work because some colleagues blow hot and cold and leave me feeling sick with stomach cramps.  This cannot be right, can it?

only the other day a certain colleague was all smiles and cheer when she came to do the tea round.  Than WHAM one hour later she is 'on one', sullen and totally blanking me when I spoke to her and then she spent the rest of the shift behaving like I was invisible.

Another colleague is abrupt, rude or indifferent when you speak to her, flapping her hands at you like you are an annoying fly that she is swatting.

How should one react to this kind of behaviour?  I really don't know, but I do know that I love my job and can't contemplate leaving.

We work with the public so a showdown is unlikely.  When I have used my conflict management to try to resolve the issues I am met with incredulous responses such as "I have an illness and I suffer pain, but it's none of your business and I don't have to tell people".  Err, I beg to differ, what is wrong with telling people you are having a bad day? that is all it takes lady, no need to divulge anything else.  The other response is "I can't be doing with this".    Hello, who do you think you are?

I have a little ditty I sing to myself it goes "you mean nothing to me", repeat as many times as you need....

I also have a saying "Not my circus, Not my clowns".  sadly this does not always do the trick....  It is such a shame I can't tell these people to "Eat my shorts!!!"

Taking matters into my own hands

Today was the last straw, I live in a one way street you can only approach from one way. and leave by turning left or right, there is a very large NO ENTRY sign at the top of BOTH streets parallel to my street.  Every time I try to go out I am being forced to give way to traffic coming into the street via the NO ENTRIES  Today, i decided "no more" and when a car approached me from the no entry and wanted me to give way so it could pass. I refused to budge, i gesticulated (no rude gestures) and told the driver that the she had come in through a NO ENTRY and should reverse back out and go the proper way, I then folded my arms and waited until she had gone. the traffic behind me couldn't go anywhere so it was no problem.  No sooner had the errant driver disappeared from my view and I had driven to the top of my street and turned left, what did I see? a car turn into the NO ENTRY that was MY exit to the main road, I dropped my window down and told the driver it was a no entry to him and he just moved his car aside for me to pass.  I turned the engine off, secured the car, got out and locked it and made to go home.  A neighbour of mine walked out of the street so I asked him to speak to the 'male' driver of the car that that was waiting for me to move.  My neighbour had a word and the errant driver turned his vehicle round and left the way I wanted to leave. 

 I think I am going to park my car smack in the middle of that road on my next day off and see if anyone begins to take notice of the road signs.....

Can't you read your road signs?

What the....Ffs!!

Unbelievable, I couldn't believe my eyes tonight when I was coming home from work, i was minding my own business walking along the footpath when a car suddenly appeared in front of me. it had come from round the corner, on the FOOTPATH for crying out loud. I waved my hand at the driver and said "it's a footpath" he opened his door and said "WHAT?" so I repeated "it's a FOOTPATH" and the cheeky beggar said, "I left you enough room to walk past".   He then got out of the car and crossed the road to go to a shop.  

And I recalled what was a 'joke' twenty years ago "How do you keep death off the road? Drive on the footpath"  Well it was corny then but my word it coming true.

"Get of the #***%# footpath!"

Another Credit Card Con!!

In August my husband Billy, and I went to Jamaica to meet some of my family, we stopped over at Atlanta for 3 hours so made the most of it and met a cousin for the first time, at the airport and had lunch with her ,it was absolutely brilliant, 3 hours was better than not at all.

Next we went and boarded our flight to Montego Bay and with happy hearts we landed and got settled in our hotel, paid the bill up front for the room and set about having a smashing time and met a few of the family in person. an Aunt we haven't seen in 30 years and went to see my grandfather's grave in Giddy Hall, Black River, St Elizabeth, also met a cousin there and the weather was good when we visited the tourist attractions. the Martha Brae and Dunn's River Falls.

We came home loaded with souvenirs and good memories and were surprised when the credit card bill didn't show our hotel payment, not in September and not on October's bill.  It did show up, however, as listed for November's bill and we got a proper shock, it is for two hundred pounds more than the hotel cost.

We printed out the hotel booking confirmation and no matter how many times we calculated the cost with 10% added for Jamaica taxes, it didn't add up.  Not in Jamaica Dollars (JMD). United States Dollars (USD) or Great British Pounds (GBP), even if we added a percentage for using the credit card.

so I called the credit card company to resolve the issue and found that there is no charge for using the credit card for the payment and the exchange rate for JMD, USD and GBP didn't bring the bill to the total cost of the hotel room;

The bill is now in dispute and we strongly believe that the reason the hotel didn't ring in the payment for so many weeks is because they thought we wouldn't notice the extra charge.  My question is. how come when we travel abroad for a holiday that we have worked and saved hard for. why do the natives of that country seem to think that we are made of money and won't miss a few pounds or in this case a few hundred pounds?

it is such a shame because now we will definitely Never go to Jamaica again not for love nor money and our friends and family are not so sure they would like to chance it either.  So this hotel will end up losing the money from us and probably customers because when the issue is resolved if it is found that we were diddled, I shall be logging in to TripAdvisor and giving feedback.  Always check your credit card bill with a fine tooth comb

Your Money through your Credit Card

UnBelieVable ffs S**t Drivers or What?

For years we have suffered from folks travelling from far and wide and parking in our streets so they can shop at the very cheap priced Asian grocery stores in our village.  Pure night mare, they are damned rude and force us to keep reversing away from our homes so they can go home, they park on the bends and corners so our children are at risk when playing our our going to and from school, they drive at speeds above 20 km in little side streets and don't a fcuk for our environment.  We the residents have no place to park our own cars and to top it off if we do these b'stards damage our cars with their bad and inconsiderate driving.

Well, two weeks ago the council came and made our street ONE WAY, no entry from the main road and no entry from the next street,  and you can believe it is well marked, brand new signage and everything and yet we STILL have the problem, only now we can't get our of our street because it is blocked by idiots mostly with no English speaking or pretending to have no English speaking.  These morons have the cheek to get upset when I stand in the road and hold them up while i give them a lecture on the High Way Code and ask them if they can read and do they know what a give way line is for and what it looks like.  Oh the frustration, it wasn't made any better by the person who damaged my car and cost me money in a respray.  I can't believe that there isn't a traffic cop in the area making a fortune in fines. We are being stripped of all sorts in the name of saving money coz the Government and councils are skint and yet there is a fortune to be made in fines from these people desperate to save a few quid by shopping in our village!

The NEW Modern Family

This young man competing in the British Transplant  Games, is Aaron, he was one of the four people lucky enough to receive organs from my son, Wade, in May 2000, he calls me Maxine and refers to me as his "Donor Mum.  It was both a pleasure and a treat to watch him running in the 100m race and he won 2 silver medals before I got to the games and I have to say it was fantastic and I am so pleased he wants to have me in his life.  We are now a Donor family .  In the midst of those who  have received organ donations (Gifts of Life) you will find Donor families cheering the competitors on, for me it was very emotional, knowing that Aaron was 'running like the wind' because Wade made it possible, Wade's life, although cut short,  was NOT wasted he leaves a wonderful legacy and will never, ever be forgotten - Just thought I would share this!

Dave Says "I think this could be a draw!"