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Monday, January 10, 2011

Deaf, Mute and Hispanic

Haha, What?
I was working this past Saturday at the bookstore, it was around 4:45 pm... and usually around that time, in January we are dead. No customers, no business... nothing. A Hispanic woman walks in to pick up a special order of Spanish Bibles and decides she wants them engraved. I welcomed the opportunity because it's not like there was anything else to do. I sit down to begin engraving and close to 7 people walk in. 7 loud people.
Earlier that morning I had read in James 1 about "being quick to listen and slow to speak." God says this is the righteous life that he desires. I am reminded of this the minute I start complaining in my head, not to mention, we needed the business!
I go back to engraving, and with every  minute that passes, the customer gets less and less patient with me and my not so great engraving skills. A woman had walked in earlier requesting an application for the position that we had open and I had forgotten all about her, so I took a break after 2 bibles and got her the application. As I was returning to the engraver, an older gentleman approaches the register.

His arms are moving frantically and the noises coming out of his mouth aren't making sense. He has a warm smile on his face and an air about him that captures my attention. After trying to speak with him for at least 2 minutes, I realize that he's not only mute, but he's deaf.
I scramble around and find a small notepad, which turns into our communication board and begin to watch him write, or scratch. I couldn't read a word of it.... it looked roughly like this: mwnvmwnnwmvmu.
except of course it wasn't a bunch of letters, it was a bunch of cursive confusion.
In my mind I start to freak out, "What if he needs help, or something is wrong..." I'm thinking. "I can't help this guy! Why is he here Lord?" I remember my devo again. I can't hear him unless I'm calm, so I need to calm down. Then I am able to make out that he is asking for my boss. I tell him that Pam had left for the day and I was the only one there. He then asks me for a bible. (this simple question took at least 3 minutes for me to understand, but we got it.) I led him back to the bibles and pull out a KJV. He finds Exodus 35 and shows me where the Lord told Moses to tell his people that the Sabbath day was Holy and the needed to keep it that way. I nod, obviously not agreeing with his idea of the Sabbath, seeing as how I celebrate the Sabbath on Sunday, not Saturday. He speaks some more noises and we go back to the register. Still unable to read his writing clearly, he says a few things and leaves with a smile on his face.


I left the store that night wondering why in the world something like that happened. For 30 minutes of my life, the store was full of hispanic people needing help. All speaking at once, in one form or another, and me unable to understand any of them. Before the crowd died down, a white couple made their way to the front. I calm myself and ask them if I can help in anyway. They smile, nod and leave. 


Still, two days later; I'm left wondering. 
Mute, Deaf and Hispanic...
haha... 
me?
Why?

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