The gesticulation would have done credit to a boulevard in Paris. Everyone in the group was making hand signs — greeting newcomers with short, sharp sounds of delight, then indicating with their hands the joy of reunion.
A woman shopper found her path along Manners Street obstructed. “Let me through,” she snapped. A policeman motioned the group to thin out.
No one heard the brusque shopper, but the constable’s gesture was respected. The delegates to the N.Z. Deaf Societies convention gradually dispersed, and made their way up to a dance studio for their annual meeting.
I tagged up behind them, asked one of the officials — by note — if I could remain to see how they conducted their meeting. He nodded enthusiastically.
The chairman, a fair-haired Wellington farmer, motioned with his hands, made some sounds and the delegates all stood — in silence, of course. Then they resumed their seats. In answer to my written inquiry a member explained that the gesture was a mark of respect to a member whose mother died recently.
An elderly man with a hearing aid who was able to speak quite well read the minutes of the previous meeting. Then he introduced a Wellington remit proposing a national committee of deaf societies.
Sometimes debate flared, and a number of delegates were gesticulating wildly, making their points. There was little sound in it all, but the chairman had to get up and rap sharply with the gavel.
A member unable to see clearly the lips of a speaker got up to draw curtains over the window glare. A “listener” keenly following the argument shaded his eyes to assist his vision of the speaker’s lips.
“Yes, some members are better at the sign language than others,” a delegate replied to my written query. “They have different ideas — sometimes they misunderstand each other, just like people who can speak.”
The deaf didn’t expect their convention to be any less spirited than those of more vocal groups. The programme warned: “The committee reserves the right to suspend any member or visitor for unruly conduct.”
With the business of the convention completed, the members were able to concentrate on the sporting and social activities.
