Story of the Day

My summer has so far been absolutely wild, but in a fun way I suppose.  By far, the thing that I have enjoyed most during the season has been my American Sign Language (ASL).  When I first met Miss Cindy, my ASL teacher, she introduced me to the fascinating world of deaf culture. Before I began taking ASL, I didn’t realize that the deaf community was the most unreached people group in the entire world.  Because they can’t hear or speak, deaf people struggle to live alongside the rest of society. 

Yesterday I had my first experience of communicating with a deaf person at my job.  As usual, I was working behind the cash register, keeping an eye out for new customers, when a timid middle-aged woman came up to me.  At first I didn’t realize that she was deaf.  She could speak a couple of little words, but couldn’t exactly form them. 

I remembered what I had learned in class over the summer.  Before her eyes could wander, I motioned to her with my hand, in order to catch her attention, and signed to her, asking if she was deaf.  She stared at me, looking entirely confused.  I signed again, “Are you deaf?”  She still didn’t understand.  I signed again.  It was to my joy when her entire face lit up and she signed back to me, “Yes, I am deaf.  My name is Maria."  

I can hardly describe how thrilled, and scared, I felt to be actually talking with a deaf person.  I helped her through the entire process at the register and thanked her at the end for signing with me.  She left, beaming ear to ear, and a head held high. 

This experience was so special to me that I am writing it down so that I will never forget it. This has made me really want to help and serve the deaf community as much as possible. How glad I am that I decided to take American Sign Language instead of Spanish!