Acceptance Is Tough
In a world where it can be so hard to be accepted, many people struggle with feelings of unworthiness; it takes a lot of courage and self-love to feel appreciated in this world. Our world is filled with people of all kinds. Various ethnicity, disabilities, and personalities exist. Although it’s important to be accepting of all people, some do not have that mindset.
In this story, a girl (we’ll call her Kayla) gets some unnecessary torment and exclusion while at her place of work. Kayla is a small girl who is mute, meaning she does not have the ability speak. Kayla also suffers from panic attacks that could cause her to have seizures or even a heart attack if she’s not careful.
In her small town, Kayla works at the local McDonald’s where she stocks and cleans the kitchens during the day for a little extra cash. Along with her at work, she brings her service dog, Bolt. Bolt is there by her side in case she suddenly collapses or if her attacks are triggered by another person.
Bolt is there to take Kayla away or help her in any bad situations. Situations like this…
~
Here Comes Entitlement
It was just an ordinary day at work for Kayla, so she thought. On this particular day, Kayla was doing more work than her usual kitchen and stocking duties because her store was extremely busy and Kayla’s manager needed some extra help. Kayla was asked to assist in the drive-thru window and the counter. Her responsibilities would be to get the orders and drinks ready while the other person took the order and handled the payment. Usually, Kayla would not dare to work in that environment due to the high-stress situations. She never wants to put herself in danger, but with the huge lunch rush and a boost of confidence, Kayla thought she could handle it all.
Kayla’s day started off great. Although Kayla appeared to look like a little girl and is often mistaken for one, she doesn’t take comments and actions too seriously. Kayla is friendly and often has a smile on her face, and people are kind for the most part. As the lunch rush continued, Kayla did her duties and wasn’t too stressed out and there was finally, a break in cars from the drive-thru.
However, this is when things really started to go downhill. This is when Kayla was confronted by an angry and inconsiderate family, a family whose actions go beyond outrageous and unthoughtful.
~
Confidence Is Key
The employee Kayla was helping in the drive-thru needed to use the restroom. Due to the shortage of staff, she asked Kayla to just keep an eye out and if needed, find another staff member for help. There were only two cars left with minimal needs, just filing up drinks and taking the money for it, so Kayla agreed.
A few seconds go by and up rolled around the first car. Despite the fact that the man seemed confused as to why Kayla wasn’t talking, there were no issues. Kayla felt confident after the first encounter, but she was in for a rude surprise with the next customer.
Up rolled this snotty-looking broad (we’ll call her Nancy) in a fancy sports car. Right off the bat, she appeared to be friendly but also made a few rude remarks. She began by calling Kayla cute before starting to ask her age in a baby talk kind of way. Kayla assumed it was because she was little and her appearance often gave off a younger look, so she disregarded the comment and attempted to sign language to Nancy about her condition. After looks of confusion, Kayla pointed to her name tag which showed a little sticker that is the muted sound logo, yet Nancy is still unaware. With a weird look on her face, Nancy handed Kayla a $100 bill for three sodas and a small fry. Because of the size of the bill, Kayla is required to grab a manager to check its authenticity and to get change.
Due to Kayla’s disability, she was unable to tell Nancy that she must get her manager, but this ill-tempererd customer wasn’t having any of it.
~
Problems Arise
“Where do you think your going kid? I want my change and food,” Nancy asserted rudely.
Kayla looked back at Nancy attempting to explain the situation. She even left the bill, on the counter next to the register to show Nancy that she wasn’t walking off with the bill to take it. Without hesitation, before Kayla can do a single thing, Nancy yelled out once again.
“Kid,” she screamed while honking her horn, “Do you even work here you just trying to steal money aren’t you! Talk to me, you brat!” she demanded.
Once again, Kayla tried to convey what she was doing through her actions, but it just wasn’t enough. Nancy continued to scream at her demanding her money and food. In the midst of all the drama and yelling, Kayla started to break down. She was beginning to panic and had no idea what to do.
Luckily, her coworkers came to her side to assist her in any way they could. They told Kayla, they would take care of Nancy while she went to get their manager. Kayla nevertheless was losing her mind. She was extremely stressed out and getting nervous about the situation she was in. She knew that she must get her manager, but also knew she needed to take care of herself before she did. All she wanted was to run to Bolt for her comfort, but she didn’t want to appear weak or unqualified to her team or her manager. So, Kayla did her best to compose herself and calm her mind before going to get her manager.
Meanwhile, the other employees were attempting to explain the situation to Nancy. Nancy was having none of it. She was furious. She started yelling things like, “She should have just talked to me and broke the 100,” and “She shouldn’t be working here she is too young.”
Kayla’s manager (we’ll call her Dawn) soon took over the conflict and told the staff to get back to wok. What happened makes everything that preceded it look like child’s play.
~
We Don’t Do That Here
Kayla continued to stand behind Dawn while she spoke to Nancy about the situation. Nancy maintained berating Kayla and the restaurant but Dawn kept her patience and didn’t raise her voice once toward Nancy. Dawn was doing her best to handle the situation calmly. She handed Nancy over her food and explained that she must go to the safe to get her change if she still wanted to pay with the $100 bill. The thing that came out of Nancy’s mouth next was hilarious.
“I want all my money back and the food for free,” Nancy stated.
Dawn tried to defuse the situation by saying, “I’m sorry Miss we do not give out free food but I can give you a larger size on your drinks if you would like.”
This is when Nancy really started to act out of line, “How dare you first you have this kid working for you which is illegal that doesn’t even talk to the customers and after causing me so much time and stress you won’t even get me free food,” she proclaimed.
At this point, the drive-thru line was getting longer and orders were starting to pile up so Dawn provided Nancy with an ultimatum: Nancy could either come inside to work out the situation or leave. In the meantime, Dawn got the lowdown on the situation from Kayla and excused her from the rest of the day at work. Kayla was relieved and began to gather her stuff.
Just as Kayla and Bolt were preparing to leave, in walked Nancy with her husband (we’ll call him Jim) and her son (we’ll call him Drew). Then, Kayla quickly put her stuff down and headed into the restroom to change, avoiding the family at all costs.
However, this isn’t the last encounter with them of the night.
~
Little Lies Cause Big Problems
Kayla nervously changed in the restroom. After building up her confidence, Kayla walked out of the bathroom and greeted the family with a smile assuming all matters were resolved since the family was getting their change finally. Immediately she noticed her bag was gone and started to panic. She was looking frantically for her bag when all of a sudden she saw it just as Drew was dumping out its contents and trying to open Kayla’s laptop.
Kayla approached Drew, and she took the laptop out of his hands, instantly, Drew began to scream. Kayla was terrified, realizing what was going to happen next, so she quickly scurried to gather all her belongings. Almost instantly, Jim came from around the corner and yelled out.
“What the heck are you doing to my son,” he screamed.
“She is stealing my stuff,” Drew accused.
Kayla was shocked. Clearly, the hand-painted neon pink bag did not belong to Drew. Kayla attempted to sign to Jim the situation but that only seemed to make him angrier.
“Give back my son’s stuff kid. Give me the bag kid,” he demanded as he reached for the bag in Kayla’s arms.
Knowing that Kayla would be triggered by any sort of grabbing, touching or picking up, Bolt began to bark, but it was too late. Before Bolt could stop Jim, he grabbed at Kayla causing her to fall to the ground. This sent her into a state of flashback, and she began to panic which caused her to have a seizure.
~
Questioned By The Authorities
Due to the seizure, Kayla was unaware of what happened next, so her coworkers filled her in. After Kayla passed out, Bolt ran to protect her. The dog started to howl and bark to get someone’s attention while trying to get Jim away from her. Luckily, one of Kayla’s coworkers was aware of the signs and called 911.
Dawn approached Kayla, took off her bag, and began CPR. Soon, the ambulance arrived and Kayla was taken to the hospital. In the process of gathering Kayla’s belongings, Dawn was unknowing of the fact that Kayla’s laptop was missing.
Nancy, Jim, and Drew attempted to leave but were soon stopped by the police for questioning. During the questioning, Nancy stated, “That little girl just started going mad cussing at us and trying to steal stuff from us and when we tried to get it back the manager attacked us and told us to leave and even tried to steal our money.”
Kayla’s coworkers and manager all came to her defense explaining that she was mute and can’t talk at all and that the bag that Kayla “stole” was hers. They explained that it was filled with her medication and house keys. Halfway through the statements, one of her coworkers (we’ll call her Lucy) saw Drew carrying Kayla’s laptop still attempting to open it.
Lucy immediately told the police. She then was asked to prove it, which was easy since she knew Kayla’s password. The laptop also carried a small case which contained a photo of Kayla and her dad, and a small picture of Bolt. The police then asked the family for the laptop and Lucy was able to prove that the laptop is Kayla’s.
Nancy, Jim, and Drew are looking quite suspicious at this point, knowing that their gig was about up.
~
Justice Is Served
After getting all the statements and reviewing the security footage, the evidence was obvious. Jim was arrested for assault. To the family’s surprise, it was an account of the assault, not assault of a minor. They still believed Kayla was only a minor.
The next day, Kayla woke up in the hospital. She was showered with love by her fellow coworkers and manager. She received flowers and cards and felt extremely loved.
Kayla has not heard from the family since the incident and continues to work at McDonald’s. She enjoys helping her coworkers at the window and register and has gained a lot of confidence since that all went down.
~