Day 4 ‘To badge or not to badge’

A funny start to the day, I was walking through town on my way to the post office and I was briefly stopped by a lady and her husband I presumed they wanted directions. When she saw the badge she said ‘oh, it doesn’t matter’ and they walked off. I heard her saying to her husband ‘ he wont be any good he can’t even speak’ . To which I was extremely taken back and to be honest a little peed off, I caught up with them and asked her if she actually knew what stammer was, I said I would have happily directed you, and as you can hear I can speak, I speak extremely dam well. Her husband apologised as she stood there with a face like she was chewing on a wasp. I finished with telling her to educate herself before being so ignorant next time. 

After this situation I found myself wanting to cover up the badge even more, I know it was just one negative comment but those are the ones that sit on your mind. How dare she, who the hell did she think she was. I would love to give my stammer to her for day and see how she gets on.

I carried on with my day, however my confidence was knocked and my stammer seemed to get worse and worse throughout the day. I had to go into the council tax office and I could feel my heart rate speeding up as i got closer. It took my three attempts to get through the door.  I was greeted by a friendly man with a calm voice which made me feel at ease straight away. It always amazes me how my speech differs dependant on the person I am in conversation with.

Turning the negative of this day in to a positive I have at least made the woman more aware, hopefully if she comes across somebody else with a stammer or stutter in the future she will remember our conversation and treat them with more respect.