Vikki Washington, a fellow DeafDC.com blogger, mentioned attending a DC-area Cues on Tap in her most recent posting, 32 Degrees Fahrenheit in Hell. I can only remember attending one of these gatherings in Boston, but I can at least say that one was loads of fun.
It was a blast mostly because it’s not often I get to cue the night away. Usually when I go out, the choice is between my voice/lipreading skills or my signs. Not at Cues on Tap. Finally, I get to freely converse in my native English without anxiety about needing to choose words that are easy to understand with my deaf accent. And code-switching is definitely not frowned upon, unlike some other places.
Plus the cueing crowd is so different from my usual social circle that I always leave feeling that exhausted kind of refreshed that signals the extra inches you’ve broadened your personal horizon. New cuers, old cuers, deaf cuers, hearing parents, professionals, students. You name it.
But what intrigues me about Vikki’s account is the non-cuer perspective:
Some of the cuers were surprised that we, signers, ventured onto their territory without arrows and spears. War face paint doesn’t look good on me, anyway.
Hm. I found that food for thought. I can’t quite yet figure out what it is about that that gives me pause. What about you?
