Sunday, September 19, 2010

TOO LOUD

Last night the noise in the restaurant was very "live" and sharp. When something dropped on the floor the sharp whack felt almost physical, like you were being hit. We all shuddered. 

The place wasn't full - about 1/3 capacity. Suddenly Barbara noticed the large party of about 10 were signing to each other. They were deaf!! We couldn't imagine how unbearable the noise would be if the place was full of actual speaking people. Maybe the deaf folks selected the place because noise is not relevant to them. Should you avoid restaurants frequented by deaf people because they might be too loud? or seek them out because they'd be quiet?  

When we tried to get the waiter's attention, he didn't notice us because almost everyone was wagging their fingers and making gestures. It felt like a "Curb your enthusiasm" episode.  LOL! 

For my non-texting friends, LOL which I, like a dinosaur,  was still interpreting as "lots of love" until recently, apparently means "laugh out loud" in "text" language. Just like "awesome" which formerly packed a conversational wallop and now describes such earth- shaking events as finding a good parking space, another perfectly good phrase BTD (bites the dust). Was not "laughing out loud" reserved for something really funny? Now I think it's used as a symbol for hyperbole and texts are loaded with them (LWT). See - we can do this too. After all idnt-day our eneration-gay use and enjoy Pig Latin? 

Below is the very useful sign language gesture for loud. Not LOL, but just plain LOUD. When we walk into a clanging, clattering restaurant, my husband and I can use this to each other to signal we should hit the road (HTR). 


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loud


LOUD:


Animation:  LOUD


American Sign Language University ™ ASL resources by Lifeprint.com © Dr. William Vicars
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1 comment:

  1. That sure made me LOL.

    What a fun evening ! When those deaf people were loud they were very LOUD.
    So not sure whether to seek out deaf restaurants... but when they were quiet they were very QUIET ! So aybe may.
    Barbara

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