Just a little rant, coming from a disabled barista…

To customers…

I sometimes wear a couple of disability pins on my apron to communicate to people (Autism, hard-of-hearing) and I get negative comments on them all the time — mainly when I’m working the drive-thru window, which is where I’m at most of the time. “You can’t be autistic, you’re a woman!” Or “You can’t be autistic, you’re nothing like my autistic nephew who is also a toddler!” Or something like that. Give me a break 😩 they called it a spectrum for a reason. I act differently CONSTANTLY at work to make sure you people DON’T make fun of me, and you still do. I only wear the pin because I still process and understand things differently than most people, and I don’t want to just seem like I’m an idiot. I haven’t been wearing them lately because they got caught on something and broke, and since then, the comments have pretty much stopped, and customers are kind to me and tip more often.

It’s the holidays, so I figured there’d be some joy in the air or something, but a good third of the people I encounter at work are just hateful for no reason. It doesn’t hurt and it’s also FREE to be nice.

I’m not accusing EVERY customer of being mean or rude, but it’s enough to where I feel like I need to share how I feel.

Anyways, rant over! I love you guys and my job regardless! Happy Holidays!! 🥰🥰