Last week, my sinuses started stuffing up.. and then draining down my throat (gross). Saturday, I had a site throat… I was in Barry White mode. Sunday morning, though, I woke up and my voice was completely gone… still is, three days later.
Of course, I work in retail and it’s the week before Christmas… so, yeah. Not the time to not be able to speak and definitely not the time to call out sick. There was no need for the latter, though, because I felt fine.. I just couldn’t utter a word. I mean, I COULD, but not much, and it was barely there when I even could muster it. So, how does one work a busy retail season without talking?
One gets creative 😉 .
I quickly attached the above-pictured sign to my name tag, so people didn’t think I was insane/creepy/rude. We have a rewards card that people can get to use during transactions, so I’ve kept one out and point between it and the customer. I wrote out a few basic questions, too, for what I need to look up their accounts, too. Obviously I’m no use getting the phone, and I’ve had coworkers explain a few things to customers when it would take too many words, but I’ve otherwise managed just fine.
People are really sympathetic about it, too. If I was asking for donations at the register, I could rack up a ton. Some people make jokes by wanting to ask complicated questions, to which I just signal for them to get out, but my favorite part is that people end up whispering back to me… as if my vocal strength went into giving me super hearing or something.
Oh, people 🙂 .
