Disabled student chased out of store
by
Simone Morgan-Lindo
Sashagaye Thompson says she wants to be treated fairly.
1
2
The tears welled up in Sashagaye Thompson’s eyes when she visited THE STAR on Wednesday.
The 21-year-old said she cried after she was chased out of a wholesale by one of its operators on December 22, as she tried to make a purchase.
Like others, Thompson strongly believes that she was treated harshly because she has a disability.
“I went into this store in Spanish Town to purchase something, and a Chinese national immediately told me to get out with my dirty chair. He was shouting on top of his voice in his Chinese accent: ‘Don’t come in here, get out.’ I was astonished, and I even asked him why would he turn me away when I usually visit the store, but he didn’t hear me out. He just demanded that I leave,” she said with tears trickling down her face.
After seeing how humiliated and upset she was, Thompson said her mother went to confront the store operator and was shoved out of the establishment.
“People have said a lot of things about me, but nothing ever hurt me like that incident. My mother was really upset, and she went there and asked them why they spoke to me like that. An argument developed, and one of the workers shoved her out of the store,” she said.
Humiliated in her own country
Reflecting on the incident, the young woman said she is not only disappointed that she was shunned because of her inability to walk, but the fact that she was humiliated in her own country by someone who bears another nationality.
“Imagine a Chiney man come inna my country and a disrespect me and a treat me so. Him just say mi fi come out a him place. My heart is broken in a thousand pieces. Mi travel to school on a daily basis and persons have said a lot of things about me, and I am only human, so its natural for me to feel a way. However, because I am educated, I understand that not everyone will understand what myself and other disabled persons go through on a daily basis,” she said.
Currently pursuing a degree in education, business and computer studies at the University of Technology (UTech), Thompson said she is hoping that persons will be caring towards persons in similar situations.
“I want that Chinese man and others to know that it’s the same blood that runs through persons with disabilities. I have to accept my ordeal and that I am in a wheelchair. For persons to add to all of this, it hurts a lot. Sometimes taximen will say that they are not bringing me in their vehicle because they can’t bother with the load,” she said.
Thompson, who hails from Spanish Town, said that she became paralysed from the waist down at age nine after she was kicked in the back by another student at primary school. Receiving severe injuries to her spinal cord and pelvis, Thompson was forced to spend a year in the hospital, where she underwent vigorous treatment.
Jah know Rasta!!!Suck yuh mumma chiney bwoi!!!
And I bet you all those who stood and heard him speak to you like that did not drop their intended purchases and head somewhere else. Di dutty stinking gunman dem prey pon di Jamaican business ppl dem so much either kill dem off or run dem outta town now every rass body stuck wid strangers in charge of dem food. Imagine your food supply which is so vital is completely being provided by strangers who don’t speak your language or look like you, nor give a fuck about showing you respect. On top of it when was the last time any of unno see one of these Chinese prospector entering a black owned business and patronising it? Dem nuh eat unno cook food, dem nuh go unno boutiques, dem nuh go to unno hair dressers, dem nuh go unno tailors and dressmakers, dem nuh go to nutten or spend money inna nutten fi unno, but unno bloodclaat everyday hitch up unno bumbohole in dem place a spend unno money weh dem a convert back into US dollars and send back a dem country fi build it up while dem nah spend a money inna fi unno fi build it up. If unno even go to dem fi charity giving dem naw fawt and unno still nuh get it! Mi dear you complaining cause you were publicly humiliated and it makes you feel less than human, especially since you struggling with your physical challenges. But if him never run you wouldn’t you be up in him place same way a shop like everything alright. Sometimes it takes a wake up call like this fi you and your mother get sense.
The only place you can hit those ppl is in the pockets, do not patronise dem business places. Meck dem food tan deh rotten and fi months and months when dem realize nobody coming and business mash up dem will find somewhere else to go. Is unno give dem strength and power over unno cause unno insist on shopping wid dem no matter the treatment dem give unno or others. Dem know unno simple minded and have no loyalty so dem can treat unno anyhow and unno will go right back for more the next day. Unno think any Chinese ppl would siddung meck black ppl teck over dem food supply? Go China go seh you going to run supermarket everywhere nuh and teck over dem food supply and see how it work out fi unno. Black ppl are a damn disgrace and no wonder nobody respect wi cause we don’t fckng respect wiselves.
They need to burn down that store