Jordan Wood Deaf Blind Date

Jordan Wood

Human Services 3300

    I recently went on a “blind date” with a deaf girl named Angie. My friend Drew told me he thought we might get along well because we both shared an interest in baseball. He works at a sporting goods store and he had met her there as she had been a customer. He gave me her phone number, I called Angie up and the date was ready to go. However, he didn’t tell me that she was deaf. I wouldn’t have been opposed to going out with a girl just because she’s deaf, but as a self-proclaimed ladies’ man, I would’ve needed that bit of information so that I could tailor make the experience of the date to accommodate Angie’s needs. I do this sort of thing with every girl that’s lucky enough to go out with me, so I wouldn’t treat Angie any differently.

    So upon picking Angie up, I was delighted at my first impression. She was stunningly gorgeous, and a stylish dresser. I rang the doorbell, which seemed to me to be unnecessarily loud, but when I noticed she was deaf, I understood why. My vocal greetings such as “hello my name is Jordan” were sometimes met with a look of inquisition, and sometimes a look of understanding. It became apparent to me eventually that Angie was lip reading. She seemed to be able to read my lips about half of the time. Once I understood that she was lip reading, I made sure to face her directly as I was speaking, so that she could clearly see my mouth. The task of facing her directly while speaking however, became difficult in the car, as I needed to be looking primarily at the road while driving.

    She would sometimes use sign language with me, and our social interaction was inhibited because I could not understand her sign language. Also, when I attempted some humor by doing the “YMCA” disco dance with its accompanying hand gestures, as well as “the Macarena”, my attempt at humor failed and was not met favorably. It was awkward.

    I took her to a movie theater because that’s where I’d been planning to go with her before finding out that she was deaf. Public movie theaters are not the best places for deaf people to go on dates I soon found out. As we stood in line to buy our tickets, it was very crowded. There was a man standing next to us, talking loudly on his cell phone. He was arguing with someone and using inappropriate language. I tried to make light of the situation and even said something to Angie, at this point I realized that she hadn’t even heard the guy arguing. The man’s conversation had bothered me but not her.  

    When we got to the counter, I asked the employee for two tickets and he gave them to me. Then, as we approached the host, he ripped the ticket and handed it to Angie saying, “Theater number four, on your right, down the hall, enjoy the movie”. I then took Angie by the arm, as I would any girl really, and lead her to the theater as I know she didn’t hear what the guy ripping the ticket had told her. They really should have an employee that knows sign language on hand so as to be more accessible.

    For me, the movie theater has always been a great date destination, but not this time. Because she couldn’t hear the movie, the experience did not provide enough sensory stimulation for her to enjoy it. Soon, we left in the middle of the movie. We decided to go to a book store instead.

    In the car on the way to the book store, we had a few more awkward moments. I was talking to her about my love of music. For me, the car has always been a favorite personal place of mine to enjoy music. I can control the volume and the radio station as I like. I even went so far as to turn it up and say “don’t you love this song?” Realizing what I’d said, I apologized meekly.

    When we got to the book store, things started to improve. First of all, the atmosphere was very comfortable. It was well lit, and full of comfortable, cozy couches and chairs. The smell of coffee brewing in the store set us both at ease, and we shared some coffee. It was a bonding experience, as we both used our sense of smell to enjoy the coffee. We picked out books, and quickly adapted to the new atmosphere of the book store. It was very accommodating and the rest of the date went off without a hitch.

    Before dropping her off, I circled the block and parked my car at a big, green, field. It was sunset, and the sky was beautiful. I popped the trunk of my car, and carefully mouthed the word “surprise” as I pulled out of the trunk of my car a baseball bat, a ball, and two gloves. We spent an hour or so running through the field and playing catch, tossing pitches. Drew was right about her, we did get along very well, and she was a heck of a baseball player. The rest of the date went well, but frankly, it’s none of your business, because a ladies’ man and a true gentleman doesn’t “kiss and tell”.