How do people see you?

The one thing that has always bothered me the most about having a speech impediment is people's first impression of me. A lot of people say that first impressions are super-important, and that it's harder to change someone's opinion of you than to just make a good first impression. When meeting someone for the first time, it's usually on my mind.

I work at a small store as a cashier, and people seem to be generally surprised when I open my mouth to speak. I can't tell you how many times I'm asked "Where are you from?". And I also meet a lot of condescending people who treat me like a child because I sound like one.

Those are the people I hate the most. I'm always terrified that people think there's something mentally wrong with me. I mean, once people start talking to me in conversation form, they usually realize there isn't, but like I said before, first impressions count.

A perfect example happened a few days ago. It was super-hot, in the upper 90s (I work outdoors), and the heat was getting to me. I started ringing a woman up, and fumbled my way through her change. I think I gave her the wrong change almost three times. When I said I was sorry and sort of mumbled something about the heat, she said, "It's okay sweety", like you would to a child who just feel and busted her knee.

Writing about it now, I think I may be over exaggerating a bit. Maybe I just imagined she was being condescending to me since most people are. It's so hard to distinguish sometimes.