Do accents/varying dialects apply to sign language?
In other words (no pun intended), do people from the South have a sign for the word “y’all” that nobody else uses, unless they happen to be mocking people from the South?
What about slang words? Do people who use sign language have to constantly come up with fresh signs to keep up with the trending slang words, such as “gucci,” “fleek,” and “turnt,” to name a few?
I guess sign-language people can’t talk with passengers while they’re driving, right? Unless they’re steering with their knees, what the hell are they going to do? Does the passenger hold the wheel so that the driver can sign a few phrases? I guess that could work…but then the passenger would be focused on the road rather than what the driver is signing, so the driver’s signs would be rendered pointless. Unless, perhaps people can read sign language through their peripherals, in which case I suppose this wouldn’t be an issue.
Or, maybe, there’s a passenger in the back seat who leans into the front to take control of the steering wheel while the driver and the front-seat passenger have a sign language conversation. Although, if that were the case, why wouldn’t the driver and back-seat passenger just switch seats—clearly the driver and the front-seat passenger have a conversation to finish; maybe the back-seat passenger should’ve just driven in the first place.
But nope—the back-seat passenger is a lazy jerk, who NEVER offers to drive. The driver and front-seat passenger always drop not-so-subtle hints in sign language to the back-seat passenger, like, “huh—you never seem to drive. It always ends up being one of us. Maybe you should drive sometime…” But then, he signs back, “yeah—maybe someday,” but never ends up following through. And so, the fatal question must be asked: is he incredibly socially inept, and therefore incapable of taking these hints, or does he just not care?
Unfortunately, the driver and front-seat passenger are too uncomfortable to have the awkward conversation. The back-seat passenger is a great guy and fun to hang out with; his only real flaw is his lack of initiative in offering to drive for once.
Should the driver and front-seat passenger confront the back-seat passenger about his laziness, or should they not rock the boat because the back-seat passenger’s good qualities outweigh his bad ones?
Totally hypothetical question, but what do you guys think? Please respond ASAP, because I’m getting tired of this sh*t (not that I’m the driver or anything like that; all of this is totally hypothetical).
Until next time,
Michael J. Erickson, CEO & Co-Founder
