How am I supposed to help someone if they won’t make any effort what-so-ever to communicate with me? I had a client who was deaf. The first couple of meetings went great; productive and pleasent. Then one day the interpreter wasn’t able to come, she contacted me and my client, and he decided not to reschedule the meeting. I know only know a little sign language, I’ve had conversations with deaf people before. They were long, slightly confusing conversations that sometimes needed the aid of a pen and paper, but we got our thoughts accross. It’s not impossible. All I needed from this guy was a bit of information. After he sneered at and then contunially ignored my attempts at sign language, I wrote down the information I needed from him. He rolls his eyes, gets up and leaves. Why didn’t he reschedule the meeting if he was just going to sit there looking at me like I’m a dumbass? What exactly did he expect to get done? What the fuck did he expect me to do? I was trying to not waste his time (and money) so why did he waste mine? The next day I get news of a complaint from him about my being “rude” and find out that he’s taking his business elsewhere. So now I’m in trouble with my boss for losing a client, everyone at work thinks I hate deaf people, and I have to take sensitivity training.
—pissed
This article appears in Nov 26 – Dec 2, 2009.
What a jackass. Not you, pissed. The deaf fuck.
What a jackass. Not you, pissed. That deaf asshole
Welcome to the wonderful world of government sanctioned out of control political correctness. I have been placed in a similar situation 3 times in the last 5 years at work with people who could barely speak English and decided I was to blame for their language barrier. I learned French and Spanish in school but I suppose Arabic and Chinese would have been more practical…
I sign…..
d…i…c…k…h…e…a…d
It SUCKS when someone lies about you to your supervisor because no matter how untrue it is, they always think there’s some truth to it.
I’ve had two such situations at two workplaces where this happened. First, the cleaners told my boss that I told them they were “just cleaners,” and treated them like dirt which I most certainly did not (unless saying hi every day and “thanks” when they emptied my garbage/recycling bin is treating them like shit) (my co workers believed me though because the cleaners there were known for being huge assholes with chips on their shoulders) and another situation where someone outright lied and said I was aggressive and pushed their chair. Funny thing about that is a) I’m a fucking DOORMAT I’m so nice and b) THERE ARE CAMERAS IN THE PLACE I WORK OBVIOUSLY THEY DON’T KNOW THAT BECAUSE THEY WOULDN’T’VE MADE UP SOMETHING SO DUMB. Seriously, all they have to do is check the tapes and find out the fuckers lied.
Welcome to the world of people being douchebags and lying about you and you looking like the douchebag…tends to happen when people with chips on their shoulders are allowed to go mingle amongst the general public.
Just remember, OP, this shit happens to everyone — you’re not alone.
It happens OP, defend yourself as best you can and you will likely be the one on top.
In 2 years at my job, I’ve had one complaint against me. A one-legged man got on a super-crowded #2 bus on Canada Day last year (before cameras) and complained that I didn’t automatically get people out of the courtesy seats. This despite the fact I a) didn’t see any one-legged men get on which means he was hiding a prosthetic, and b) noone asked me to have the seats vacated. I didn’t know he was missing a leg until it was mentioned in the complaint. In his complaint, he threatened to take it to the papers. After I pointed out a and b to the supervisor who presented the complaint, I never heard about it again.
Best of luck OP.
I’ve met two deaf people through work.
One was in his teens and absolutely refused to talk to anyone unless it was through his interpreter. He wouldn’t look any of us in the eye, and got similarly offended when someone tried to write something down for him. Whenever his interpreter wasn’t there he’d spend his time alone; no one wanted to talk to him because whenever we tried he would just stare at us blankly and walk away. Unless his interpreter was around, in which case he would go get her immediately. By the end of all this the only thing any of us knew about him was that he was deaf, and that he never laughed. No one ever had a friendly conversation with him. It was either essential info about work through his interpreter or not at all. No one liked him, no one got to know him.
The other one was in her teens and didn’t use an interpreter at all when she was with us, or didn’t need to. Keep in mind we had already had this bad experience with this other guy, and some of us had some misgivings about approaching her. But she was very friendly and patient with us not knowing sign language. She taught us how to better communicate with her, like not letting our eyes wander when talking to her, and to tap her on the shoulder if we needed her attention. She was eager to communicate with us and taught us some signs. Everyone loved her, and got excited about learning signs. We were really bad at signing but whenever we could we would sign to each other instead of talking as practice, even if she wasn’t there, it was a lot of fun.
So don’t judge all deaf people by this guy OP.
People need to communicate in this world of ours.
I remember dating a deaf lass and besides being a loon when her trueself came up. I would do some signing and write things down.
Deaf people have their own world, Blind people have their own world, and People with ALL senses have their own world. If they want to have all the benefits and not work on it, fuck off then. We have to meet half way, cant help if somebody does not know ASL or another language.
I just know a few key words and phrases in several languages. Like the greetings, “hello”, “Thank you”, “one more”, “fuck you” and “suck it”. Even though the last two would be fun to say. “One more” is best when getting beer in Mexico HA!!
“”We have to meet half way, cant help if somebody does not know ASL or another language.””
Oddly, some surprising folk ARE able to use “sign” language when you least expect it…
I was sat at a bar at a truckstop on the TCH and this bus filled with deaf-mute Roughrider fans came in. I guess they’d been there before because the bartender could figure out what they wanted pretty fast. It was eerie…all these folks partying but hardly any sound…when they wanted a round of beer, one guy raised his hand and opened and closed his fingers for the number of beer….I’m sitting with the driver, and he’s pointing out what means what…a wink is a round of Irish whiskey, nodding means more chicken wings…
I’m like “dude…what’s that mean..they’re opening and closing their mouths?”
He’s like “Shit, I’ll never get ’em out of here now…they’re singing!”
When I was a kid, my friend’s mother was deaf, so I learned the basic alphabet; which is a pain in the ass for communicating, because you literally have to spell things out, but it works.
I never thought I’d need sign language after they moved away, but then there 2 deaf girls, which were really patient with me, and everyone else that tried to ‘talk’ to them.
Of course that was a few years ago, but I still use the sign-alphabet because it’s really entertaining trying to teach someone a few signs when they’re drunk
Prejudice is prejudice—whether it’s assuming a handicapped person cannot perform a certain task, or assuming that the non-handicapped person in an altercation must have been the one at fault.
international sign – 1 point to cock – 2 point to mouth – 3 make hand gesture about suckin it – 4 done and understood – some people think they need special attention and everyone should bend over just cause thier deaf – missing a leg – fuckin blind – sames anyone else – you can only do what ya can to help and be nice – and just like any other person “normal ” being a dick needs to be told off and to get a life – just learn how to tell them in their own way how to “FUCK OFF