The Deaf & Dumb

The Deaf & Dumb

It was just another fine Sunday morning. I and my family had planned to go out to our nearest mall and watch a movie. So naturally each of us woke up quite early to get prepared for the day. When everyone was set to go, we left our building and got into a taxi to reach the mall.

Just as we reached the mall my father paid the taxi fair, we went straight up to the film theater to book the tickets before there was a long queue and all the tickets were sold. After the tickets were bought we went into the movie hall since it was almost time for the movie to begin. It was Kung Fu Panda 2.

As expected the movie was a fulltime entertainment like the first part. It was totally worth it. Even in the serious situations some kind of hilarious moments were involved. And it was also interesting how the imagination of a writer works, making a peacock, one of the most beautiful bird, into such wickedness.

When the movie was over we exited the hall and went to the food court to fill our stomachs. After having a delicious lunch of Chinese food, my mother said to get some food packed for dinner. This time it was decided to get something from KFC.

So I took the money from my father, went up to the famous chicken restaurant and stood in the line. It’s a bit annoying to wait for our turn but good thing is that the services here are pretty good. A bit later I was the next to next person to order when I noticed that the person before me was giving the order with a lot of movements of her hands. Then I looked up at the person who was receiving the order. He was a guy in his late twenties and was just nodding his head in response to whatever she was gesturing at. Not a word of sound came from his mouth. Then I realized that he was both deaf and mute.

My reaction to this was naturally to feel sympathetic towards him that such a thing had happened to him. The lady took her order and my turn had come but I didn’t know exactly how to place my order to him. He came to my rescue and placed a huge list of the items available in front of me and I pointed out the ones I needed with the quantity required. Then with an odd hand gesture I told him that I needed those packed. Luckily he understood nodding his head in response and pointed out on the small screen facing me where the total bill was shown.

I gave him the required money and he was arranging for the change while waiting for my food to come. But from the inside I was actually feeling really happy since this was my first interaction with a handicapped and I had succeeded with it. It was actually quite noble of the company to hire and help people who are physically impaired.

Finally my order had come. He gave it to me along with the change with a smile on his face. I mouthed ‘Thank you’ to him to which he nodded in return and left the queue with a smile.