Hi, how are you, what, why are you looking at me like that?
You all know how you react when you see someone approach you to talk to you and it turns out they have something stuck in their teeth. You can’t help but fixate at that gunk stuck in their mouth that you miss half of what they say, can you? Do you feel uncomfortable watching one talk when they have something stuck in their teeth? How well are you able to listen to that person?
*ahem*
I feel exactly the same way when it comes to hands. Think about it. What do deaf people stare at all the time when communicating? Either the hands or the mouth. In my case, it’s the hands. If there is gunk under the fingernails, it’s very distracting and gross. It doesn’t bother me if the whole hand is dirty, such as mechanics or farmers; but if the hand is free of grime but the fingernails aren’t, that is distracting for me. I get grossed out by the fact that one has gunk under their fingernails. I am personally always cleaning mine out. With food preparations, caring for children, doing my beauty routine, simply scratching an itch on my neck etc, even with frequent hand washing I still get a build up of mystery gunk under my fingernails every few hours. This is clear or light colored. It’s when you leave it under your fingernails all day long that this gunk turns dark. Go ahead. Look carefully under your fingernails, even in the corners. I bet every reader of this blog found a little gunk under their fingernails. Please, if you are going to be signing to a deaf person or just making a lot of gestures, don’t forget under the fingernails.
Here’s another distracting thing. Nail polish. If it is a muted dark color, that’s wonderful, that actually benefits the visibility of the hands. What annoys me are those who decide to paint each fingernail a different color and then try to fingerspell with me. I do understand them, but I have to work hard to ignore their colorful choices. HoW EaSy Is It FoR yOu To ReAd WhEn I TyPe LiKe ThIs? It’s sort of like that for me. So stick to the muted colors and stay away from any shiny nail polishes. If your fingers will reflect a lot of light, that polish is too glossy. Shiny nails are fine, glossy nails distract.
So… keep on checking your teeth for gunk, but don’t forget the fingernails!
