So, I wore the new glasses to school for the first time today. Before I get into the rest of this story, I need to explain about Deaf Culture. Deaf people have a totally different culture from Hearing people. There are customs, when meeting and leaving, regarding touching, etc. Anything you can think of regarding your culture, there's something in Deaf Culture corresponding to it. (It's interesting, how language reflects a culture. Or a culture reflects a language. Or both.)
Deaf people, in my experience, are, quite simply, way more blunt than any Hearing person you will ever meet in your life. For example, I have seen a Deaf person say to someone, in an entirely complimentary manner, "Wow! You lost a lot of weight! That's good, because you were fat before." If a hearing person said this to me or one of my friends, I'd be offended. A Deaf person said it, so the person it was said to (and I) laughed, and the formerly fat person thanked the Deaf person for the compliment.
So, today. I got to a class and sat down. One of my current favorite students took one look at me and said, "You got new glasses?" I nodded and smiled, refraining from asking her what she thought, because, well, she's Deaf, and I knew she'd tell me.
Sure enough, she did: "I like these much better than your old glasses." When I laughed, she expanded on her statement. "No, seriously, the other ones were way too big for you. These are much better."
I love Deaf people.
Moving back
13 years ago
2 comments:
Ha! That's great. I'd hate to think what she would have said if she DIDN'T like them!
You had school on Columbus Day??
Yeah, we've had school on Columbus Day for a few years now. I guess we don't have enough Italians who'd take the day, although with Yom Kippur last Thursday, a few families in town took a long weekend, anyway.
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