I speak deaf?!? (MLlaah, MLlaah)

Yesterday, while at work, I was part of a party of three who was responsible for throwing a celebration in honor of a circulator bus that runs in one of the municipalities in our service area. This bus, because of its declining ridership, was almost canceled by the municipality's council, however, it was saved due to the many seniors in the area that complained. This party was meant to be a thank you to all those folks, including the council, who saved the bus.

Most of the people that showed up were old, some even ancient. Many had horrible maladies, like one guy who was covered with bulbous bumps all over his face, head and neck (and probably the rest of his body). I called him Mr. Leper. There was also Ms. Saggy Face, who I make fun of because the right side of her face was slowly oozing off as if it was made of silly putty. I wanted to go up to her with the funny pages to see if I could make a copy, but after realizing that her ailment was probably caused by a stroke I backed off.

Every single one of these old folks brought a bag with them to take leftovers home with them because, as I was told by just about all of them, multiple times, old people either dont like cooking anymore, or cant. Sad fact really.

The saddest part of the celebration, at least in my eyes, was that there was only one guy with a cane, so I was unable to fulfill my lust for getting photos of old people with canes (Old Men With Canes).

After feeding the masses, handing out some certificates to the board in recognition of the saving of the bus, watching the vultures come back for seconds, thirds and take homes, and cleaning up our story begins in earnest.

When I was about to leave two younger (younger relative to the old folks who were taking all the food) ladies came in. At first they were noticeably quiet. Then I heard one blurt our, "MLlaah, MLlaah." (The sound "MLlaah" is made by saying blaah, but replacing the "b" with an over emphasized "ML." To get the look of "MLlaah" correct you will have flop your tongue out of your mouth after making the "l" sound of the second "l") I laughed at first, to myself, because I thought she was fooling around with her friend, until I actually got a good look at the two of them.

One was wearing all black, from head to toe - coat, shirt, pants, hair color, skin color, etc. - and was about 40ish. She didnt speak at all. The other, the MLlaah, MLlaah lady, was wearing pink sweat pants, a black coat with a green scarf and a green hat with black shoes. While she was making her "MLlaah's" she was also speaking with her hands. Ah, these ladies are deaf. So no making fun of them.

They perhaps came for the party, but more than likely saw that there was free food, which was fine with us. Miraculously there were some left-overs, albeit slim pickings.

The one lady dressed in all black kept to herself and looked through the food until she found something she liked. The MLlaah lady came over to me and went, "MLlaah, MLlaah, MLlaah," while using sign language. My response? "Im sorry, we are out of plates, you could use these napkins."

A few minutes later, "MLlaah, MLlaah, MLlaah."

"Yes, there are forks at the end of the table, right next to the soda."

Finally, as I was about to leave, she came up to me again, using sign language and saying, "MLlaah, MLlaah, MLlaah."

"Hmm, I dont have any bags, but I can go look in the kitchen." I scour the kitchen for a bag and hold it open for her as she dumps her soda, a few pieces of hoagie, and chips in the bag.

"MLlaah!"

"Oh, your welcome, have a good day."

This experience leads me to one conclusion. I can communicate with deaf people! Now I am not sure if I am predisposed to understand sign language, especially since I have never learned, or if I am just able to understand the MLlaah dialect that some deaf folks speak, or even if I am just connected through esp to this one specific deaf person, but I do know I was able to communicate, and isnt that special of me?

Yes, heap praise on me people, I speak deaf! MLlaah lady was even very happy with me and my ability to "speak" with her and help her. As I drove off away from the party she was outside on the corner waiting for her friend, the lady in black. She saw me and began waiving profusely with a huge grin on her face and her bag of food in her other hand. I could read her lips saying what else but, "MLlaah." I waved back and drove off, happy at my new found ability.