Personal Narrative: The Grind Coffee House Deaf

The second ASL deaf event that I attended was the Grind Coffee House deaf event. This was different then the previous one that I attended, which was the Huntington Beach event. On my way, to this event I was nervous because my signing skills are still at a novice level. I was prepping myself in case I needed help remembering signs. Thankfully I was going with a group from class and we would be able to help each other if needed. Even though this was the case I was still nervous because there would be less people at this event then the at the Huntington Beach event. Although, it was hard for me to fully immerse myself into this event I learned a lot about the culture. As we learned in class it is important to pay attention to the person signing …show more content…
Furthermore, everyone at the event was very welcoming and warm. The event was also big for our class many had come and it was exciting to see our skill from the classroom coming alive. I noticed that many of us were at different levels of understanding but it was nice having their people that you know. The coffee house was interesting to because its not everyday that you see people signing in a coffee shop or at least to the ones that I have been. When I was observing the people around us I noticed that people were staring. This was agitating because after learning in class that it is rude stare at people signing I wanted to go up to people and tell them that they were intruding. In addition, people that were coming in and out of the coffee shop didn’t know what to do when people were standing and signing. This did not catch me by surprise because before taking ASL I did this because I felt like I would be intruding on the signer’s conversation, when in reality it is rude to stand there. I am glad that I learned this because I feel that being ignorant of these “rules” of courtesy. This culture is so intricate and interesting that understanding it as a hearing person can be difficult and I understand that. On the other hand when I went to order my drink I ordered speaking instead of signing. I did this unconsciously because I am so used to it I felt ashamed that I didn’t try doing it signing like the other students