by William G. Vicars, EdD (10/26/2024)
A random viewer commented regarding my assistant's appearance, on the "100 ASL
Signs to Level Up Your Customer Service!" video on my YouTube channel. (https://youtu.be/vrIPLjEi9tc)
Comment: "Nails distracting no?"
Response: Painted nails are only distracting -- until they aren't.
On my morning walks with Bee (my wife, both of us Deaf) we tend to walk the dog.
The dog tends to relieve itself at some point during the walk. We put the poo
into a bag and continue our walk. Since neither of us wants to have a pocketful
of poo, one of us generally just carries the bag in our non-dominant hand for
the remainder of our walk which tends to be 15 more minutes or so.
It is not uncommon for us to have a 15 minute conversation in ASL while holding
a bag of poo in our hand.
You might think "Gee, you should clip it to your belt or attach it to your dog's
vest, or buy a special poo pouch, or blah, blah, blah..." Sure, we used to do
all of that -- until we just stopped being distracted by the poo and went on
with our conversation since it rarely (as in never) interferes with our focusing
on the other person and actually understanding them.
In real life some Deaf people paint their nails. In real life some Deaf people
wear decorated or patterned shirts. In real life some Deaf people have tattoos,
facial deformities, arthritis, palsies, missing fingers, mustaches, sign in the
front seat of a car while we ride in the back, walk by our side instead of
standing in front of us, wear jewelry, sign with a phone in one hand, sign while
holding a baby on the hip, and even sign to one another in bed in total
darkness.
So think of painted nails as "practice" for the real world.
Because...
It's all very distracting -- until it isn't.
Moral of the story?
Don't get distracted by poo. Focus on what is important.
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