Hi Joy, When I read this - what jumped out at me was - Your father hadn't ask anyone's premission to be there. You don't get to drive any speed just becasue no other car is on the road - the rules still apply.Well, to be the voice of reason here - generally the rules are men aren't allowed in women dressing rooms. Keeps down the preverts and peeking toms!! So while the saleswoman handled a poprtion of this badly this badly - she also had a right to an explantion why he was there. If your dad had simple said he was there to help you and why - it looks like it would have been averted - if you need special help for a disability - its going to have to be mentioned in public. I am sure you can write this up to show the salesperson in the worst light possible - but in the future you may want to review a situation and see at what point a simple action can divert an unpleasant situation. Frankly, had that been me - and I got no explantion - I would have called security. I don't mess around. Your father opened himself up to a damgerous situation - another woman seeing that could have started screaming and yelling - rape - prevert and had your father arrested. So while you can complain about the pat on the head - you might want to consider without permission - he was in the wrong. I am truly distressed to see eveyone hopped on your bandwagon - with reading what you have without a grain of salt. I would not walk in to a gentleman's dressing room empty or not - to help someone without asking permission - as far as I am concerned - just becasue you are disabled doesn't mean you get to be unpolite nor break rules. Had you ask they might even had a salesperson assist you. Before you scream bloody murder make sure - you are not in the wrong. Write a letter to the corporate offices and to the May Co. who owns it. Which store is it? I can mention to to Sam the Store Manager - in the Hecht's I work for - They are very proud of their disability equality and have employes with CP( one just won a corporate award). One thing to keep in mind most stores in order to keep overhead down hire part-time people at minium wage - there is no fancy senistivity training. There are departments in these stores that are run by concessions and we work for the Guest comapny even if we wear Hecht's badges. We get depending on the company do get such training. Which answers the question of why service can vary so much from department, to department. By the way corporate does listen and research all complaints - I had an incident with a woman at Christmas - over a box. I caught - lots coals from the hot place over it - since I had gone the extra mile for her - it was stupid power play, in an effort to get more than what was allowed. Brightest Blessings Trisha > I've recently had a really bad experience with Hecht's (a big department > store in the US), and I'm wondering if anyone's gone through similar things. > Plus, I'm just looking to vent. > > I was trying on a few suits for a mock trial match I had coming up, and my > dad had entered the dressing room to help me with dressing. We made sure > there was no one else in the room, and locked the door to our stall. A > saleswoman came in, and started yelling that he had to leave. He didn't > want to embarrass me by mentioning my disability in front of the shoppers > (since the door was open now, everyone could hear). He just said he was > helping his daughter. The woman kept knocking on the door until we came > out, but when she saw me wouldn't say anything. He was angry now, and asked > if she was the one yelling, and what she wanted. She petted me on the head, > in front of everyone, and said "I'm sorry baby, I didn't know you were > crippled." > > Now, it had been a stressful week - I had exams, this match coming up, and > my clothes weren't fitting like I wanted. That was just the last straw... > I'm sorry to say that I started sobbing, and couldn't stop. And of course, > the more I cried, the more embarrassed I was, which made me cry harder. > > Now, I'm a daddy's girl, and my dad hates to see me upset. So, we stormed > to the manager's office, and asked to see her. She tried to be sympathetic, > but that didn't make it any less painful to be treated that way. We were > also upset that I had been unable to dress on my own, since the room was too > small for me to pivot and face the mirror, and there was food in the > dressing room. Plus, because of the way the racks were cramped so tightly > together, I couldn't see everything. She tried to say that I could ask a > manager to get something for me, but if I can't see it, how can I know what > to ask for? And how am I supposed to get to a manager? She promised to > have their ADA consultant call us immediately. It's been three weeks, and I > just got a basic apology today. Ugh!!! Has anyone had similar experiences? > Am I overreacting? > > ~Joy~ > [log in to unmask] > http://www.geocities.com/joy0823 > "Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups."