There are certain things in life that you tend to give very little thought about – until it happens.
Today was one of those days for me.
I work as a cheese monger a couple of days a week and today I had a customer come in who is deaf. While she was wearing a mask with an open window so I could see her mouth, I was wearing a very closed mask that didn’t afford her the same courtesy.
I felt particularly stupid trying to use crude hand gestures to communicate. Sometimes I wrote things down on paper and sometimes she typed things onto the screen of her phone.
In the end she left with what she came in for and I stayed with the dose of reality of how difficult it is for those who rely on reading lips to communicate during a pandemic when everyone is wearing masks.
I can’t say that I never thought about this before, but it was my first direct experience. Perhaps it will remind me to be a bit more thoughtful of those around me.
A History of Stupidity 