F&B Staff Encourages M'sians To Learn Sign Language After Serving Deaf Customer
"I was panicked at first, but with the help of my friend, we managed to serve him at our best."
By May Vin Ang — 09 Jun 2021, 06:55 PM
A part-time employee working at a Baskin-Robbins in Selangor said he was initially worried when a deaf customer walked into the store one day to make an order
"I've been working here for over a year but today is the first time I got a deaf customer," Twitter user Azizul tweeted on Saturday, 5 June.
The employee said he was worried because it was his first time having to serve a customer who he could not speak to.
Thankfully, he said a colleague knew how to sign and communicate with the man.
"I was panicked at first, but with the help of my friend, we managed to serve him at our best."
Azizul said the father had come in to buy an ice-cream cake for his children, so he actually had a lot of questions
"The father asked which were the best-selling cakes and their flavours, and also asked for a design for his kids. Not only that, he was curious about the mix of each flavour," the employee said.
Azizul also explained that while he could have written it all down for the customer, it would have wasted the customer's time and ruin his experience at the store.
"If you have bought Baskin-Robbins before, you know there's a lot of flavours. I wanted the customer to get the same service as we would have provided a regular customer."
So, he was thankful that his friend knew some sign language and the customer left satisfied.
"We do our best in treating our customers, regardless of their condition, so they can enjoy ice-cream with their loved ones," said the proud staff.
Azizul and his friend have since received a lot of praise from netizens for their great customer service despite the initial hiccup in communication
The post was retweeted over 10,000 times, with many others expressing interest in learning sign language and calling for it to be taught in the national school syllabus.
"Interesting experience! If I was there, I'll treat him his favourite flavour, double scoops, for his patience dealing with us who don't understand sign language. Kudos to you for helping him," said a Twitter user.
Another netizen said, "One of my goals this year is to learn sign language, so far that hasn't happened yet."
"I think sign language should be included in school's syllabus, it's inclusive when communicating with those who sign in their life."
This netizen said, "I've dealt with customers and had Grab driver like this before. I wish American Sign Language (ASL) was taught in all schools. So that it makes it a lot easier for us to communicate with them."
Azizul told SAYS that he would love to learn sign language as well in the future and encouraged his followers to learn the language.
"I think it's a good thing that people want to learn sign language, because they are starting to realise that it's not only for the disabled community, but for us too," he said.
