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A deaf woman went to TikTok to recount her painful story about how she was refused service at a Dunkin' Donuts because she was unable to communicate with the baristas.
The woman, Shannon Heroux, approached the counter with the employees and politely asked an employee to remove their mask so she could read their lips, but the employee refused and made somewhat of a scene.
The manager who got involved refused to write anything down or remove his mask to communicate. Ultimately, Heroux said she could tell he "didn't believe" she was deaf by his body language.
Heroux also went into detail that she has been suffering mentally and discriminated against for lip reading as a result of the pandemic and that this incident was truly the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back.
Deaf people across the nation, in fact, have reported serious increases in discrimination due to the deaf community's reliance on lip reading to communicate with hearing people.
The presence of masks and anti-maskers has greatly complicated this simple piece of deaf life, leading to truly horrific moments of negativity for the deaf community.
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
"I've never been refused service before, and it hurts. It hurts really bad. Dunkin' Donuts is my favorite place to go," Heroux shared, tearfully, on the video-share app.
Heroux ended the videos immediately after her incident by demanding an apology from the coffee chain, which she did later receive.
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
However, the apology she received from the store was not satisfactory, so she reached out to corporate instead and is waiting on an update:"
The general manager at that location also wants me to go in to get my apology and take care of my order, and I felt that wasn't going to be enough, so, that's why I reached [out to] corporate in the first place."
"You know, it's just important that change gets made. I stand up for the deaf community. I'm just really happy I spread awareness. I am happy I reached all of you."
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
@shannon_heroux/TikTok
No update has yet arrived from Dunkin on how they plan to make things up to Ms. Heroux, nor has the company commented on the incident.