Lencoboy
04-02-23, 11:06
On Thursday (2nd Feb) there was an incident at my day centre where I witnessed this one female staff member who has sometimes been known to have arsy school teacher-like tendencies verbally chastising another client over some (IMO) rather trivial matter. Apparently he was wearing his face mask a bit wonky (they have been optional since around last summer) and she shouted at him to take it off because he wasn't wearing it properly, and the client concerned growled loudly into her face, as he doesn't speak much, and she then confiscated his mask and gave him a further loud reprimand, telling him angrily that she would not tolerate that kind of behaviour and was threatening to phone his parents.
I felt this particular infraction was rather odd, especially as for the best part of the past 3 years we've been constantly told to wear masks while on the day centre premises and suddenly that client was being ordered to take his mask off simply because he was wearing it a bit strange, which must have been very confusing.
It also made me have flashbacks to my previous day centre some 15 years ago where I overheard one (male) staff member saying that clients growling loudly into staff members' faces constitutes assault and could warrant police intervention (part of the old 'zero tolerance' malarkey). During Thursday's incident at my current day centre I felt very tempted to shout and swear very loudly into that staff member's face but managed to stop myself from doing so because that generally isn't me.
Although nothing was mentioned of possible police intervention on the occasion of Thursday's incident (unlike at my previous day centre circa 2008 or so), I wonder what the police might have done if that staff member had reported that client to them for growling into her face. Does clients simply growling loudly into staff members' faces without getting physical actually constitute assault, or (mostly in the case of what they said at my previous day centre) is it simply over-reacting and laziness from the staff concerned?
I'm still seeing red today as I felt like the staff (both in 2008 and now) were bang out of order over something that IMO is hardly crime of the century and can't believe still happens to vulnerable adults in 2023.
I felt this particular infraction was rather odd, especially as for the best part of the past 3 years we've been constantly told to wear masks while on the day centre premises and suddenly that client was being ordered to take his mask off simply because he was wearing it a bit strange, which must have been very confusing.
It also made me have flashbacks to my previous day centre some 15 years ago where I overheard one (male) staff member saying that clients growling loudly into staff members' faces constitutes assault and could warrant police intervention (part of the old 'zero tolerance' malarkey). During Thursday's incident at my current day centre I felt very tempted to shout and swear very loudly into that staff member's face but managed to stop myself from doing so because that generally isn't me.
Although nothing was mentioned of possible police intervention on the occasion of Thursday's incident (unlike at my previous day centre circa 2008 or so), I wonder what the police might have done if that staff member had reported that client to them for growling into her face. Does clients simply growling loudly into staff members' faces without getting physical actually constitute assault, or (mostly in the case of what they said at my previous day centre) is it simply over-reacting and laziness from the staff concerned?
I'm still seeing red today as I felt like the staff (both in 2008 and now) were bang out of order over something that IMO is hardly crime of the century and can't believe still happens to vulnerable adults in 2023.