Commuting in and out of a busy city on the train every day, it seems like maybe I can become complacent when it comes to the interactions of humanity. It’s easy some days to think I’ve seen it all. Today I was reminded how wrong that sentiment can be.
After an hour on the train, like any other day I made my way into and through Union Station in downtown DC. Amid the thronging crowds headed in every direction I passed a truly unique scene. Two men were communicating with each other. Of course there is nothing all that unusual in that statement.
The two men might be unusual in some circumstances, but not for Union Station. The first was a policeman. He was fairly tall, muscly, white, probably approaching forty years old. He had a short haircut, Marine Corps style. He was a dog cop. The leash to his working dog was looped over his wrist as the dog laid lazily on the floor at his feet.
The other man looked to be pushing seventy. In his hand he carried the long white cane that marked him as blind. He was black, as was the companion next to him who was clearly acting in the role of a guide for him. He was short and thin. He was also clearly deaf.
“Now wait a minute,” you say. “How can you know he was deaf just by looking?” Well that gets to the heart of what made this interaction so noticeable to me. When the blind man spoke, he used his hands in the unmistakable motions of sigh language. When he finished, the police officer would take his hands by the wrist and move them to his own right hand. The blind man was then able to feel the hand motion as the policeman spoke in sign language back to him. The blind man’s companion stood near. All three men were smiling and laughing in a way that made you think the conversation was very jovial.
Part of me wished to take a photo of the interaction. What a lovely moment the view made for me as a simple passer-by. I thought about it for just a moment until my judgement got the better of me. It felt like that would be inappropriate in such a moment, so I’ll just have to keep this picture of real human communication in my head. Hopefully this poor little written attempt will give the reader a little glimpse too.
I think perhaps why I marked the positive of this small occurrence so well is it came just as I needed it. I read some news on the train that brought me some heaviness of heart. I expressed that sadness in prayer just before stepping off the train to enter the station. About a minute later I walked by the two speaking with each other in the way I described. I felt a renewal of my faith in people. Perhaps as these two were quietly communicating with each other, Heavenly Father was quietly communicating with me, and answering my prayer.
After an hour on the train, like any other day I made my way into and through Union Station in downtown DC. Amid the thronging crowds headed in every direction I passed a truly unique scene. Two men were communicating with each other. Of course there is nothing all that unusual in that statement.
The two men might be unusual in some circumstances, but not for Union Station. The first was a policeman. He was fairly tall, muscly, white, probably approaching forty years old. He had a short haircut, Marine Corps style. He was a dog cop. The leash to his working dog was looped over his wrist as the dog laid lazily on the floor at his feet.
The other man looked to be pushing seventy. In his hand he carried the long white cane that marked him as blind. He was black, as was the companion next to him who was clearly acting in the role of a guide for him. He was short and thin. He was also clearly deaf.
“Now wait a minute,” you say. “How can you know he was deaf just by looking?” Well that gets to the heart of what made this interaction so noticeable to me. When the blind man spoke, he used his hands in the unmistakable motions of sigh language. When he finished, the police officer would take his hands by the wrist and move them to his own right hand. The blind man was then able to feel the hand motion as the policeman spoke in sign language back to him. The blind man’s companion stood near. All three men were smiling and laughing in a way that made you think the conversation was very jovial.
Part of me wished to take a photo of the interaction. What a lovely moment the view made for me as a simple passer-by. I thought about it for just a moment until my judgement got the better of me. It felt like that would be inappropriate in such a moment, so I’ll just have to keep this picture of real human communication in my head. Hopefully this poor little written attempt will give the reader a little glimpse too.
I think perhaps why I marked the positive of this small occurrence so well is it came just as I needed it. I read some news on the train that brought me some heaviness of heart. I expressed that sadness in prayer just before stepping off the train to enter the station. About a minute later I walked by the two speaking with each other in the way I described. I felt a renewal of my faith in people. Perhaps as these two were quietly communicating with each other, Heavenly Father was quietly communicating with me, and answering my prayer.
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