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 Blockbuster Employee with Wonderful Communication Skills
Posted Fri October 26, 2007 12:00 pm, by Carol M. written to Blockbuster, Inc.
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This evening, I took two of my children to choose some movies for a weekend movie festival at our house. They had a wonderful time browsing through the store and choosing their movies.
As a young man, Josh, was ringing up our rental, the computer was stuck. He leaned to a co-worker next to him and said, "Can you help me; this computer is retarded." My heart dropped,as it has many, many times before when this type of event happens, but I said quietly, "Actually, this little girl here (my daughter) has Down syndrome. She might have retardation, your computer does not."
Well, you might think I am writing this as a complaint, but I am not! Josh looked at me very seriously and said, "I'm very sorry. I should be much more careful about that word." When he said that, I actually started to shake and wanted to cry. Josh's response was professional, caring, and sincere.
Often, even when I gently point the problem of using that pejorative word out, people respond aggressively or defensively. Yet, I know that for my daughter's sake, I need to at least try to educate others whenever I can. I cannot tell you how happy I was that Josh responded so politely. It has to be embarrassing to be corrected by a customer, and in fact, at a pizza place I once had a server tell me that I needed to "get over it" and that it was "just a word." We left and never went back.
I will continue to return to Blockbuster, and hope that Josh's reaction can be used as a perfect example of customer communication. Mistake and slips happen -- genuine responses are rare. Josh has wonderful communication skills and should know how important his accepting reaction was to me, and to others who advocate for children with intellectual disabilities.
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by ♥B00!♥ Posted Wed October 31, 2007 @ 6:36 PM
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Thank you for writing this letter and sharing it with everyone. If
only every situation could be handled with that amount of concern and
acceptance, the world would surely be a better place.
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Fantastic letter. One of my closest friends works with people who have
developmental disabilities. She'll be the first to tell you how much
that word infuriates her.
And kudos to the employee for issuing a sincere apology. As you
pointed out, there are too many people who wouldn't.
Thank you for writing this.
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by TwinkleToes Posted Tue October 30, 2007 @ 12:50 PM
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What a great letter! Thank you for sharing this with blockbuster and
the rest of us.
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by Gino Posted Sun October 28, 2007 @ 9:14 PM
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Carol,
You are a truly amazing woman! To take the time and look beyond what
must have hurt deeply, and to make it a "life lesson" for a young man
took a tremendous amount of strength.
I wish more people were blessed with a mother like you, the world
would be much a far nicer place!
Thanks for deciding to share this, I won't soon forget it, and I doubt
Josh will either.
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Carol... you are amazing.
I've been fighting what I felt was a losing battle on this site to
stop people from using that word too. My son has high functioning
autism and gets referred to by the mean children at school as
"retarded". It infuriates me to no end and I refer it EVERY time I see
it to PFB management.
Thank you thank you thank you for writing such a heartfelt, important
letter. Your actions of attempting to education are working. Keep it
up!
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by donno Posted Sat October 27, 2007 @ 6:55 PM
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Very nice letter Carol. You handled this extremely well, as did the
man at Blockbuster.
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by Firebrat Tracy Posted Sat October 27, 2007 @ 6:08 PM
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Ma'am - if I were to ever get the privilege of meeting you, I would
shake your hand.
You managed to do what I've rarely seen around here: Took a complaint
and turned it into a compliment. I am speechless with your grace and
dignity and I thank you.
Your daughter is a lucky girl to have you as a mother.
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GREAT LETTER! Carol, I used to throw the word "retarded" around.
Then I met and dated a man whose sister had Down syndrome. I said it
once in front of him (not knowing about his sister) and he called me
on it immediately--kindly but sternly.
It was a valuable lesson to learn. I wish more people would learn it,
and sooner than I did.
You know, I would suggest you contact Josh's manager and arrange to
have his parents call you (I'm sure he can't give you their number).
Wouldn't any parent like to hear that their kid responded the way he
did? I mean, sure, he shouldn't have said the word, but he wasn't
even thinking and showed maturity and compassion when he was
corrected. I've sought out parents a couple of times to tell them
they had done a good job raising their kid. You don't know that the
kid will tell the parents what transpired.
It's just a thought.
Great letter. There seems to be a plethora of negative letters right
now (this is the first positive one I've read today), so your letter
was a real treat.
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by Ahsha Posted Sat October 27, 2007 @ 8:48 AM
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Oh, thank you for this letter. That young man learned a needed lesson
and accepted it with grace. I feel certain he will carry forward and
other people will learn from him also.
If you have not already done so, please contact the store manager.
He/she would be glad to hear that Josh handled himself so well.
Many people just do not understand the pain that a word can cause.
Now Josh does, and by posting this letter, you have helped many other
people know also.
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by Peregrina Posted Sat October 27, 2007 @ 2:09 AM
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What a lovely letter! Kudos, Carol.
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