Ive just returned home from a shopping trip with my husband and it was awful . My husband took the kids into woolworths so I said I will go into the card shop cos they had 10 cards for £1 , so I picked my 10 cards and joined the que. My heart started the usual panic attack and I looked out the window and could see my husband and kids looking for me (all looking confused) so I stepped aside out of the que to wave to them thru the window (basically saying here I am) and then went to rejoin the que and this girl had stood in my place . So I expalined to her that I was in the que but could see my husband looking for me outside looking worried, I said "Ive only got to pay £1 that I have ready in my hand, so do you mind" ?
but she was really nasty and said " get to the back of the que" and looked at all the other people with her eyes up in head!!! (by this time 4 people had joined the que) ....and they were all looking at me like I was a que jumper .
So I didnt know what to do cos my heart was racing , so In a panic I asked the shop assistent if I could just leave my £1 and go, well to my horror she gave me a dirty look !!! and totally ignored me and didnt answer me and the girl started shouting to every one , "we all dont like queing and why some people think they are different to the rest of us I dont know " she was really nasty the way she said it.
So I went beyond my panic and it turned into anger I started shouting back at here (totally not like me) I said " I am not trying to jump in, I was in this que before you and I asked you nicely if I could pay for my item quickly , all I wanted was a yes or a No, theres no need to be nasty about it.
Then she made some comment which I didnt here and the lady behind the till sniggered . OMG , my temper blew.....I slammed my £1 down on the counter and walked out.
So whilst standing outside I looked for my hubby but he was no where to be seen, I was shaking and seeing red, I looked back into the card shop and could see the girl in there and I had a really mad thought......
"when she gets out Im gonna bloody thump her one" (if any one knows me , its not like me). Luckily my husband came over to me before she got out of the shop . So then I started telling my husband all about it and Im nearly crying ....I then decided I was going to see the manager of the shop cos that shop assistant was wrong to behave the way she did.
I went straight up to the shop assistant and said , can I see the manager please.....she asked me "what for?" , I replied its private .
Then I asked the shop assistant if I could have a word in private.
I told her that I suffer with terrible panic attacks at shop tills and explained what had happened...she was really nice and told me she had agrophobia for 10 years and understands how difficult it is for me , she then said the assistant was wrong to ignor me and not answer me and to laugh at me in front of every one. She told me "Im going to get her into my office today, theres no excuse for her behaviour and im not bloody having it in my shop".
I just had to complain, cos I had to fight back , not just against the people but also against my panic attacks......if I had left that shop In a state then my subconcious would tell me (all over again) that shops are dangerous places,so hopefully by standing up for myself and complaining I have told my subconcious that actually "I can handle it" " I did handle it" and "I can handle it again" .