As we go about our day-to-day lives, we tend to meet people but not all of them are going to have an impact on us for the good or for the bad. In fact, most of the people that we tend to come in contact with on a daily basis are just going to be here and gone. For example, the person that works at the local supermarket or perhaps somebody that we pass on the street. Although that is often the case, there are going to be times when somebody has an impact on us that is long-lasting. That is what happened in the following fictional story when a man was moved to action by a new coworker.
I started a new job less than a week ago. I knew three people that worked there before I got there and they let me know that of one of their employees is deaf.
I lost a large portion of my hearing in Afghanistan, so I started learning sign language recently. When the time hit midnight, the deaf employee was walking around cleaning up, so I signed “Happy New Year” to him. He had such a huge grin on his face!
So after that, we talked (in sign language, mine extremely broken/new) for about 30 mins. Five other employees saw us talking, and then approached me later asking me about him. I told them the truth, he is hilarious! Great guy, I wish I would have approached him earlier, but due to scheduling conflicts, I didn’t work with him much. The deaf employee left happy today and said he looks forward to talking to me on a more regular basis.
I had three other employees hang out with me after work so I could teach them a few different sentences, their names, and other stuff. It was nice to see people take interest, especially after working with this guy for one and a half years (no one talked to him). I can’t wait for him to show up to work on Monday, because lots of people are waiting to talk to him!
It was an awesome start to the new year!
