Sign Language at the Coffee Counter

A regular at the café where I work is Deaf. For the first month, we communicated by pointing at the menu and smiling. Then I decided to learn a little American Sign Language from videos on my lunch break.

The first time I signed "Good morning, the usual?" his eyebrows shot up and he laughed out loud. He corrected my hand shape very kindly and taught me the sign for "latte," which is basically a little stirring motion.

Now he teaches me a new word every visit. Coffee, cinnamon, rain, weekend, grandson. My coworkers started learning too. Last week the whole morning crew signed "Happy birthday" to him when his wife told us it was his seventieth.

He signed something back that I didn't understand. His wife translated: "Best coffee shop in the city." I know that's not about the coffee.