9....
8....
7....
6....
5....
4....
3....
2....
1....
*click*
*no noise*
Whaaa?
What's wrong?
A dud?
Bad wiring?
Nah.
Just a lot of grumbling from a bunch of people instead. And no destruction but rather about destructive behaviors through making assumptions, myth makings, by making things personal by contacting employers, making threats, doing the whole childish gossipy games in YouTube, being hypocritical, the name callings, doing the whole "subaltern" pseduo crap talk, getting heavy with the a-wordism and deficit thinkers on other deaf/hh people and so on and so forth, etc, etc and all that over the years on what I've witnessed on some occasions from those in the Deaf community while as a blogger (and vlogger). It just gets surreal. Let me take that back. It is and has been and continues to be surreal as I look back now.
Tis what it is. Tis so.
But if ya ask me I say you've entered the Twilight Zone!
*insert sound of T.Z. music*
Some tend to be the "head of the pack" type of people who think they are the epitome of leadership quality. Yeeeehaw! Whooeee! And all that stuff. Bunch of mirage, I'd say!
*rolls head back and laughs*
Giddyap!
But isn't it odd that these "leaders" try so hard to raise money, act friendly but at the same time take the time and effort to vilify people in blogs and vlogs their rants? When people ask, I shrug and point to some examples of such behaviors. I nod my head and exclaim with a whisper, "Yeah...watch out." And recommend they keep a tight hold on their wallets. You know the word "facade" doesn't always mean the front of a building.
CommUNITY ain't possible. The facade crumbles. Naked and exposed.
Just yesterday I ran across several Deaf people near my town in a small town Mom and Pop take out place. I noticed them signing and approached them by introducing myself. I had a nice but a brief 5 to 10 minutes conversation with them. Never seen them before and was told they lived nearby in a small town. Conversations were cut short as I sat down with my daughters while we waited for our food. For a moment I quickly remembered a time recently when I came across a bunch of HLAA people when one wore a HLAA badge. I also made the initiative to approach them and had some great verbal conversations with them as we talked and listened to each other. It lasted maybe twenty minutes. Then it hit me as I sat at my table. I realized the stark differences between the two groups of people when it came to communicating with people with hearing loss. I was able to connect with them both using their communication preferences. That's sounds awful lot like commUNITY to me. You see, signing isn't everything and the only thing here. The key is to connect people with their communication preferences and needs. And not on political ideology alone because that will surely fail.
"Hey...there's a bunch of deaf/hh people signing! I'm gonna go over there and introduce myself!"
"Hey...there's a bunch of deaf/hh people with hearing aids and cochlear implants talking! F*ck 'em. They're losers!"
Here's the deal.
We're deaf. We're hard of hearing. People see themselves as hearing impaired. Some simply say, "I have a hearing loss." Some will say "I'm deaf" or "I'm hard of hearing," while fewer still say "I'm Deaf" by signing. Some wear cochlear implants. Many wear hearing aids. Some do not at all. Each of them has an opinion and preference when it comes to their own hearing loss, deafness, communication and language options. I don't begrudge them for that but the problem is that many people still do out of sheer pettiness. And they haven't gotten past that yet. And that's the sad thing.
*Twilight Zone music*
