LISTEN: To one amazing story

There is a local man who was diagnosed as deaf at age 4. He got hearing aids, a sound box and learned to read lips. He went to public school and was not taught sign language. He learned to talk well, read passionately and graduated with honors.

He went to college and has worked hard in the restaurant industry for more than 30 years to support his family. He has never applied for Social Security Disability which he qualified for decades ago. He has paid for his own hearing aides as they are not covered by insurance. He relies on texting because he cannot hear on the phone, needs subtitles to watch a movie, cannot hear a passenger talk in his vehicle or his cat meow. He relies on seeing a person’s face to read their lips to help him “hear” with the help of his hearing aids.

This man is a manager at a Post Falls diner and gets complaints at times that he is ignoring customers or is rude. Dear customers: Be assured he is not intentionally overlooking or ignoring you. He would go more than the extra mile to make his shift employees and customers happy! He is generous, hard working and passionate about managing to please you.

“Kindness is a language the deaf can hear and the blind can see” — Mark Twain

KELLI RAJKOVICH

Post Falls