If you could only hear me apologise

OK, so this morning I weas on the tube on the way to work and the guy opposite me lent forward to ask me a question. He was deaf and so pointed to his notepad. I firgured he needed directions, and he was actually going to a place on the way to where I work so I offered to show him. And that's when the conversation stopped. I felt a bit awkward and weird that I couldn't just speak to him and help him further.

Then I remembered an incident some years ago. I was walking through a shopping centre and saw some people ahead playing loud music. They were arranged in tiers and were obviously putting on a performance. This was back in the days before I wore glasses everyday and so I really could only just see these blurry people dancing widly, doing all these actions to the music. It was Christmas too, so I began to chuckle to my companion and to mimic the "hilarious dancing" that these people were doing to "Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer".

She looked at me. Then she looked at them, looked back at me and shook her head.

"They're not dancing. That's sign-language".