Can you hear me?

Normally, Emmi attends school at a regular elementary with a deaf ed program. I won't get into how amazingly awesome that school or program is right now. Let's just say it is. Over the summer, the deaf ed students have been merged together (there are two deaf ed programs in our district), and moved to a different campus. This makes total sense to move the deaf ed students to a school that does not specialize in deaf education. I mean, go ahead and have a school filled with sound booths and specially equipped sound field classrooms. Then let the kids who failed the TAKS test use that school, while the deaf ed kids get shipped off to another school with no specialized equipment or enclosed classrooms.

On top of that, I hate this new school. Parents have to be buzzed into the main door. I get that is some fancy security feature. But really, I don't like the feeling of you locking my child away from me. It just doesn't give me the lovey doveys. It gives me the creeps. And, it pisses me off because I am constantly having to wait to be let in when I drop Emmi off after therapy.

This morning, I rang the buzzer no less than five times. I could hear it buzzing away inside the office. Yet no one responded. I was getting pissy. Finally, a teacher walked by. I knocked on the door, and she kindly opened it for me although she explained she was technically breaking the rules. Apparently, I should have waited to be buzzed in.

"We have been waiting for about fifteen minutes," I said, now getting irritated. Rules my ass. It is fucking hot out there. And I have somewhere else to be.

"You should have rang the buzzer," she said motioning towards the intercom by the front door.

"I did."

Confused she says, "I wonder why they didn't hear it?" She disappeared inside the office to find the secretary so that I could sign Emmi in.

Instead of the usual secretary, a young man emerged. He looked at me, smiled, then signed "ID please."

Deaf. The man was deaf.

Which explains a lot.