As we strive towards a more inclusive and compassionate society, it’s important for us to be more understanding towards service staff, especially those with special needs.
A florist in Jurong recently took to Facebook to share about two occasions in which their staff with special needs had less-than-ideal encounters with customers.
Source: Google Maps
While it appears both occasions were mere cases of miscommunication, the flower shop encouraged members of the public to be more patient and understanding towards their staff.
Last Friday (31 Mar), Mustard Tree — a florist in Jurong — recounted two incidents of misunderstanding between staff and customers.
For those who might not be aware, the shop employs “special needs artisans” and equips them with “comparable craft skills”.
In the first incident, one of the customers requested “simple wrapping” for her daisies.
However, the customer’s definition of “simple” turned out to be “complicated” for the staff present at the time.
As such, the staff members told the customers that they “cannot do it”.
The customer reportedly felt frustrated upon hearing this and even texted the owner about the staff’s “bad attitude”.
Afterwards, the owner discovered that the employees had meant to say “I do not know how to do it” when they said “cannot do it”.
While the latter suggests an unwillingness to complete the task, the former simply implies a lack of knowledge.
Thankfully, the incident was resolved after a few phone calls and the customer eventually left happily.
Still, the misunderstanding “rattled and confused” the staff members.
In the second incident, another staff was sweeping the floor when a customer directed some queries his way.
As the staff was “very focused” on his task at hand, the customer reportedly felt “ignored”.
Again, the shop received another feedback about the staff being “rude”.
Reflecting on the incidents, the owner highlighted that there are countless “permutations of scenarios” that could happen on a normal day of operations.
As such, they might fall short of anticipating such scenarios and find themselves at a loss on how to tackle them.
Needless to say, that’s even more challenging when it comes to staff with special needs, who are simply “wired differently”.
To help empower individuals with special needs to lead independent lives, the owner urged members of the public to be more patient and understanding with them.
The owner, however, did share that there was a silver lining to the two incidents — their staff members emerged more resilient than before.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps.
The authorities have investigated and closed the incident with no follow-ups required, MFA said.
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