Page 134 - Reading Between the Sign Intercultural Communication for Sign Language Interpreters

American Deaf Culture 119

When Conversations Are Temporarily Halted
It is considered polite in the United States to temporarily halt a
spoken conversation when one’s mouth is full to avoid spraying
one’s conversational partner with half-chewed bits of food. A signed
conversation, on the other hand, suffers no such limitations when
the mouth is otherwise occupied. The restrictions that apply to
signed conversations are mainly concerned with the eyes and
hands. Most critically, signing stops when the eyes are needed to
avoid danger. When crossing a busy street, for example, where
cars may whiz by unexpectedly, a couple’s conversation is tempo-
rarily halted until they reach the opposite curb. When crossing a
relatively small and peaceful street, by contrast, the conversation
may be on a short hold while the conversing couple look both
ways and step off the curb, and it may resume as they walk across
the street. While doing so, both know that they are responsible
for checking out their partner’s path for any obstructions or unex-
pected danger. Another feature of street crossing in Deaf culture
is a small but distinctive touch one person may give his or her
partner on the elbow or back to signify “I’ve checked it out and
it’s okay to cross now.” (To me, that touch feels like a bit of old-
fashioned gallantry, since in hearing culture everyone is assumed
to be able to hear approaching cars and each of us is on our own.)

“How Can They Talk and Drive at the Same Time?”
To the surprise of most hearing people, Deaf people are adept at
carrying on signed conversations while driving. Although this may
seem hazardous to the uninitiated, “statistics show that deaf driv-
ers are just as good as hearing drivers and, on the whole, a better
safety risk” (Moore and Levitan 1992, 190). Some adjustments to
conversational style are made, however. When both the driver
and the passenger are well versed in Deaf culture, a regular sign-
ing conversation may be carried on. The passenger may choose
to utilize less fingerspelling than normal or else move his or her
hand to the left so that the spelling is directly in the driver’s sight
line. It also helps the driver’s sight line to move up the passenger’s
seat a little. In the case of hearing drivers or deaf drivers who have
not had much practice in such situations, on the other hand, it is
usually easier if the driver does most of the talking, with the pas-
senger responding at red lights or stop signs. “Most deaf passen-
gers will share the responsibility of keeping watch with the driver

05 MINDESS PMKR 119 10/18/04, 12:00 PM