One thing I have realized… people can be very empathetic once they realize you are impaired of something. However, that empathy does not necessarily translate to simple math in their heads.

#1
I got into the Skyclub in Atlanta airport. Dutifully smiled at the lady and flashed by boarding card on the reader. The light turned green and I was walking away. Except, the lady came running behind – “Mr. Roy. Thank you for being 360 member. Thank you for your loyalty….” I guess the screen had flashed up all my details when I scanned the boarding pass. She clearly wanted to say a lot more when I flashed my iPhone saying “Temporarily speech impaired. How are you?”. She immediately lowered her voice to a hushed tone and led me to a nice chair.

And I was like… I can hear you ma’m. You can talk to me normally. In reality, I just did the universal Thank You sign from ASL to her and sat down.

#2
There was a burly looking gentleman who clearly was not pleased with something in the world sitting next to me in the flight. He was having a rough conversation with whoever it was on the other side of the phone. Eventually, he got done. He was staring at the bottle of water sitting between us. I immediately signaled to him that it was his – I had already taken mine. And for good measure flashed my sign – “Temporarily speech impaired. If I am not responding immediately, I am not trying to be rude.” His demeanor changed immediately. Could not be any nicer to me. If the flight attendant asked me if I wanted snacks, he would helpfully re-ask me if I wanted snacks. Best part? After we landed, he got up promptly and got my suitcase down from the overhead bins.

And I was like… I can’t speak. But I do not use my throat to get my suitcase down. It is not like I bark orders at my suitcase to come down.

#3
Just finished dinner at the restaurant hotel. As always, I sat in the bar reading a book. I had flashed my usual iPhone sign to the girl who came to take my order. She read it and became extra friendly. A few minutes later, another girl came and asked me if everything was okay. I nodded and then flashed my sign. She immediately told me – “No problem. She already told me!”. Between those two, they must have come by some 10 times to check in on me. Finally, when I asked for the check the first girl came and gave me a paper with something she had written out. It asked if I was staying in the hotel and if I wanted to put the bill on my room. Then she had drawn two check boxes – one said “Yes” and other said “No”.

And I was like… What are you doing? You can ask me that question and I can nod my head and write down the room number on the bill for you.

Very amusing incidents. But all stemming from people’s first reaction to be helpful to me. I will take that any day.