I’m a retail manager and I’ve worked retail forever. I understand completely. I’m 35 and still get people laughing or outright teasing me about my stutter. It’s been a chip on my shoulder for as long as I can remember. I still get heated about it. BUT... I’ll tell you a story. I was having a very bad speech day a few years ago. I was helping a customer and it was pretty obvious I was having a hard time. The customer laughed at what I thought was my blocks. I chose that moment to FREAK THE FUCK OUT. Completely went off on her. I was angry and rude and everything I’ve been trained not to be. She let me tirade on her. She then looked me in the eye and put her hand on my shoulder and said “hey. I wasn’t teasing you about your stutter. My brother stutters and I know how hard it is.” I felt like complete dog shit. I profusely apologized and explained I was having a hard time. I took out my frustration on a PERCEIVED slight. All the years of being teased about it I just expected that any kind of laugh or anything was directly about me and my speech. It was humbling. Since then I try to give people the benefit of the doubt. I still get angry. I still get snappy when I know I’m being laughed at. But I will never lose my patience like that again. It’s not worth it. They laugh out of ignorance and discomfort. Disabilities make people uncomfortable. Ours is pretty obvious, especially working with the public. Another poster mentioned they preface a conversation with “hey I have a stutter FYI”. I find this helps me take the pressure off of performing. And it relieves a bit of their discomfort too because they don’t have to wonder about what weird thing your doing with your mouth. You have every right to be frustrated, angry, upset, depressed, overwhelmed. Try and understand most people are innocent idiots. Old habits and programmed responses make it hard for people to process what exactly is going on when talking to a person that is different. They have no frame of reference. It’s very rare to find a true asshole - they do exist - but most people are just trying to deal with their own anxiety of talking to a stranger. Good luck friend! Retail is not for the faint of heart- stutter or no.