I was at Canadian Tire this a.m. I speak quite well but you can detect a deaf accent. Wearing a mask makes it hard for myself to be understood so I just type in my e-notepad.

I asked someone where stove drip pans were. He took out his phone and turned on his speech to text app.

He was ready, kind and polite. The employee took me over to the section/aisle. Asked me if I needed anything else via speech to text app.

I wish I asked him to help w/ my faucet but I already had them in my cart.

Point being - if you deal with the public - be prepared and flexible. Have pen/paper or speech to text app avail. We have hundreds of accessible parking stalls because we never know when someone w/ mobility issues will park there.

So everyone should be prepared because you never know when you will need to communicate with a deaf/HoH person.

Thank you for listening to my Ted Talk!

I am going to have to mute this.