A Second Chance

A Face Book friend posted this today. 

I got a little chuckle out of it, because it is somewhat true for me.

I say, "What?" because I didn't hear you.

But you still get a second chance to change what you said, make it better, clearer, and more understandable.

Lucky you!

A Teacher's Apology

In high school, seniors were given the opportunity to be a TA (teacher's assistant) for class credit.  It was considered an "easy A," and it sounded like something that would be fun to do.  I was a librarian assistant in 7th grade, so how hard could it be?

I asked one of my favorite English teachers if I could be her assistant, and was thrilled when she said, "yes," and signed my new class schedule.  I don't remember much of my duties, other than correcting papers and filing.  There was a common area next to all of the English classes and I would pull in a desk to correct papers in that area.

As I came into my English class one day, my teacher pulled me aside to speak to me privately.  She seemed quite embarrassed, but continued to say, "I need to apologize to you."

Apologize for what? I responded, genuinely puzzled. 

"Remember when I spoke to you earlier today?"

My mind flashed back to my TA period ~ I was sitting at a desk, grading papers.  My English teacher had come up to me and asked me a question about something.

Yeah, I do.

"Well, before I came up to you, I called out your name a few times and said, 'Are you deaf or what?'  I am so sorry for saying that to you."

To be honest, I didn't hear you say that. 

She breathed a sigh of relief.  "I forget that you can't hear.  You look like every other student and I need to remind myself..."


Thank you.  I appreciate that.  


Her sincere apology made me love her even more.  She was more than just a teacher, she was a human being, with feelings....

Our conversation got me thinking.  How many times have I not heard something that was meant to be hurtful?  A rude comment.  Name calling.  

How many times have I been spared, just because I didn't hear it? 

I consider myself pretty lucky.

CaptiView in Cinemark Theaters!

I rarely go to the movie theater. 

Why?  It's too hard to listen and understand.  Even with the headsets that are available, I still miss out on important details.

Narration?  Forget it.  Who's talking?  Where's it coming from?

Accents?  Straining to listen and understand, it's like squinting to see.

Action?  Sure, I can see what's going on, but background noises/explosions/music can get in the way of understanding the dialogue.

Good luck trying to lip read an actor whose back is turned or is off-screen.

I usually can understand about 50% of the movie, but at the end, I'm left with a ton of unanswered questions.  I try to ask questions to my hubby, but realize quickly that he is also missing out when he is trying to answer my questions.

Why did they break up?


Who is that again?


I didn't catch the last thing they said....

I'm fine with watching a DVD at home, now that there is captioning available on most movies, but feel left out of watching the newest movie release with my family.

Want to watch Tower Heist?  Sorry, too much action/noise. 
Harry Potter?  Ummm....can't understand the accents. 
How about The Muppets?  Nope, can't lipread 'em. Because of this, I didn't grow up watching Sesame Street.

Then I read this post over at SayWhatClub and I could almost hear a choir singing in the background....

Introducing ...  CaptiView!

Captioning in the theaters?  Really?  Not the reflective captioning, which I have used in Disneyland ~ EVERYONE can see it and it can be distracting.

No, this looked like something I really wanted to try.

Where to start?

If you live in Utah, you can go to the UCAN (Utah Communication Access Network) for the 3 major theaters in your area.  I chose Cinemark, as it is only a couple of miles from my house.  I called the theater to make sure they had the CaptiView equipment. 

Want to try this?  Here's how:

First, locate the theater online.

Chose a movie you wish to see.

Make sure it says DIGITAL in the movie showtimes.

Find a link on the page that has movies that are on a CC list.

If it's there, it is CAPTIONED!

Go to the ticketing booth and request a CaptiView.  You may need collateral (driver's license) to give to the ticket agent.

When you choose your seat, you may want to sit towards the back of the theater.  If you are sitting too close, it is hard to look at the BIG screen and "jump" down to the captions below the screen.

Ask the ticket agent to "push the reset" button and make sure the CaptiView is on and set to the correct theater room.

It was a Monday afternoon.  No one was in the theater ... 

Put the CaptiView into the cup holder.  You have to push it pretty hard to get it to stay in place. 

Then twist the flexible metal arm and adjust the view finder to put it in a comfortable position.  Make sure you don't touch any of the buttons on the bottom of the viewfinder, or you will turn it off, reset it, or I'm not sure what else.

Be patient and wait.  Of course all the previews will not be captioned.

Hey, it works!!

Yes, I watched The Muppet Movie, enjoyed it thoroughly, and can't wait to see another movie!

The CaptiView did freeze up about 2/3 into the movie.  Fortunately, it was during a song/dance number and hubby took it out to the ticket agent, who swapped it out for another one, which worked fabulously.  I only lost about 5 minutes of the movie, which is not a whole lot compared to being able to understand about 50% of the movie without it!

Isn't that great?