Silliest Goose In The Pond

Who We Were Then: a The Society fanfiction

The people of West Ham often forgot that Allie Pressman and Sam Eliot were cousins. Actually, the people of West Ham usually forgot about them period. If they did think about them, it was only ever as Cassandra’s sister and the deaf kid, not as actual people. But Sam and Allie had grown up together, they were cousins, they understood each other in a way that no one else could. Sam knew how Allie both loved and hated the relative safety of Cassandra’s shadow, knew how easily her parents overlooked her in favour of their perfect, and sick, eldest daughter. Allie knew how Sam felt like his parents never saw beyond his deafness and sexuality, and just how terrified of his brother he really was. But they weren’t just cousins — after all, Cassandra and Campbell were their cousins too. No, Sam and Allie were best friends and had been for their entire lives and that? That changes everything.

Ramps should be the standard.

Automatic doors should be the standard.

Elevators in multi-story buildings should be the standard.

ASL interpreters at events should be the standard.

Braille menus at restaurants should be the standard.

Source

because, like, once you work retail you start to see just how different everybody is.

for example, the other day I greeted a woman I was ringing up and started asking her the usual questions we’re supposed to ask (if they have a rewards card, etc) and she made a gesture pointing to her ear and mouthed ‘I’m deaf’. 

and I was just like ‘Oh’, and so I skipped over the questions and just gave her a nice smile instead of the usual schpiel we’re supposed to give. she thanked me in sign language and smiled back before walking away.

and that’s just one tiny example. she was just one customer of hundreds that shift. that’s not even mentioning all the other types of people I ring in a day, of all ages, body sizes, races/skin colors, and gender expression.

it’s like…that’s how the world is. 

when people say having diversity in a fictional universe seems ‘false’ or ‘forced’, that says to me that they must exist in a very homogenous, sheltered environment. because even working for a company that has a rather disproportionately-high white middle-class customer demographic, I still see more diversity on any given day than I tend to ever see in books and movies and TV shows.