I’m cramming for tomorrow’s dinner at Mozzeria.
No no, everybody who knows me understands that i’ve always been about holding my own in restaurants, so this is not some variation on Scarlett O’Hara’s tray. No, what i’m cramming is ASL since i’ve given up on Dutch, German, Spanish, and French because i’ve always had a tin ear and now it’s getting worse.
Well, and because tomorrow i’m meeting Jeff at Mozzeria, which has been open only a few months and has been getting good reviews except for a handful that have complained mostly about the service because their waiter couldn’t seem to hear them. Duh. Stands to reason since the owners and most of the staff are deaf. Here’s a long interview from the television program iDeaf News, which is the only tv program i ever watched that had noticeable periods of silence.
The greatest insight i got out of that interview was that in spite of what our mothers tried to teach us, in this restaurant it’s perfectly acceptable to talk with your mouth full. Hell, you can even keep chewing while your fingers fly.
I’ve found an online introduction to ASL and am discovering that since my right hand has been smashed so many times, mostly from falls off the Segway, i can’t form some of the shapes quite right. So just as in all the spoken languages i’ve tried learning, i’m going to have a thick accent.
Stay tuned for my report on the visit although i already know in advance that when i walk up to the hostess, smile, and sign “a table for two, please”, she’s gonna fire back a bunch of hand wiggling that’ll be so fast her fingers will be blurs. Not a prob, though, because the next phrase i learned after “thank you” and “please” was “I don’t understand.”
And since we’re talking about food, here’s Christine, the founder of the Heart of the City Farmers’ Market, where i went yesterday.
And did you ever see such gorgeous mulberries? As delicious as they looked.
Thank you, Christine, and thanks for thirty-something years of my favorite farmers’ market.