We've all had to learn a new way of living life once the coronavirus hit, and that includes Matthew Simmons.
Simmons, an employee at Vancouver, Washington's Trader Joe's, has seen a number of changes being made to the store. Customers stand six feet apart while waiting outside the store and once inside, they must quickly shop and avoid contact with strangers as much as possible.
Simmons is deaf and usually assists and communicates with his customers and team members by reading their lips. But now that everyone is required to wear face masks, things changed quickly.
He said "I had been noticing customers and crew members wearing their masks, and that caused me to have some anxiety, because as a deaf person, I rely heavily on using my lip-reading skills that I have acquired since childhood. When the customers wearing masks came up to me to ask a question on the floor, I always said 'I am deaf, and need to read your lips so I can help you.' Sometimes, customers didn’t want to lower down their masks and shook their heads 'no' and walked away from me. It made me upset because I couldn’t help and left me feeling defeated. I was not ignoring them or being rude, but I simply did not know they were speaking to me."
Even if a customer knew sign language, the masks still make it difficult to communicate since sign language relies a lot on facial expression and tone of voice.
After raising the issue to his assistant manager, they came up with a plan to help Simmons as best they could.
Step one was personalizing his work shirt to say 'I'm Deaf' on the front and 'Tap On The Shoulder' on the back.
Step two involved white boards and markers. Simmons said "In case any customers had questions, they could write it down for me and not have to lower their masks." And when working the register, they allow him to write on the plexiglass: "Hi My name is Matthew. I am Deaf and read lips,” accompanied by an arrow pointing to the whiteboard.
Customers started writing messages of support and encouragement that helped Simmons smile again.
This is such a sweet story! Thank you Matthew and Trader Joe's for all you do!
Check out his photos below.