You Forgot!

Something unusual had occurred last week at a local grocery store.

In the past, I’ve often gone food shopping.  I love food shopping, not because I like to eat, but because it’s so relaxing. For example, I don’t have to think about work and I move around at my own pace. It’s also interesting to look at different people with different clothes and different facial expressions.

Sometimes whenever I’m in a line waiting to check out and pay for my foods, a person in front of me would say something without realizing my deafness, and I would simply stay silent.  Whether they think I’m rude or I’m just ignoring them, I couldn’t care less.

This time, I went shopping after playing tennis.  When I was ready to check out, I was in a line behind a lady in her late sixties who just purchased her items.  A young female cashier was waiting for the lady to pay for her stuff.  The lady said something and looked at me at the same time.  She had a friendly face with a gentle smile.

Once she finished talking to me, she somehow expected a response from me.  Instead of staying silent, I said I’m deaf and couldn’t understand any of what she had said.  She interjected “Oh,” and, pursing her lips, she turned quiet and puzzled.  Attempting to encourage the lady, I added, “Could you repeat what you just said?  I read lips.”

She ho-hummed and ehh-ed, not certain if I could understand what she said again and/or if she should expend more of her energy to repeat what she had originally said.

Sensing the woman’s discomfort, I exclaimed, “You forgot!”

The cashier smiled at my comment, and the lady was obviously relieved and initially laughed it off.  Then she looked at me several times, and she wondered what could have happened if we had conversed longer.  It seemed that for the first time in her life, she had met, much less talked with, a d/Deaf person who could communicate orally.