5a Train Go Sorry

I am a hearing student assigned the book Train Go Sorry in my Introduction to Humanities Class. Other readings assigned in this class include several essays from the book My California. In both books, we examined the cultures of California that form a microcosm of the U.S. In this essay, I will incorporate 4 required questions.
1. What does Train Go Sorry mean (who in the book is this referring to; there is a specific person, include his name and his outcome.
The term "train go sorry" is the equivalent to the standard English slang "missed the boat" in the deaf sub-culture the phrase carries the exact same meaning in A.S.L.(American Sign Language) as the English hearing societies phrase missed the boat. During the course of reading Train Go Sorry I came to believe that this phrase, while by definition carries the same meaning as the hearing worlds, but maybe more true on a daily basis for the non-hearing. The chances of being misunderstand or having opportunities go begging in deaf society seems like it could be a unfortunate daily occurrence.
In the book when James tries unsuccessfully on several occasions to visit his brother who is incarcerated at Ritkers prison, which is quite the notorious place back east. James missed the boat on both the first and second attempt to see his brother. After each occasion James has the feeling of train go sorry and after success on the third attempt realises that his brother Joseph has had a wasted life and the term train go sorry could definitely apply to his brother. James on the other hand is almost role model like in his efforts to succeed in the hearing world. The brother Joseph is the polar opposite of this, but this situation is not unique to the deaf by any stretch. Look around you, and think back on your upbringing ,your families, and socio-economic background, you would be hard pressed to convince me that if certain things were not in place in your life maybe you too could have missed the boat of life like Joseph.
2. What pair of 'shoes' do you think the main person in the book is walking in and what did she learn? In other words, who or what culture does she want to belong to and why? Leah having spent her childhood being raised in Lexington's school for the deaf in New York City, found herself being the minority as a hearing person and despite her efforts she could not fully integrate herself into this community. Though not deaf herself she does have a connection to the community besides being the daughter of two of the school's teachers, her grandfather Sam who was supposedly born deaf according to the records that remain at the school. Her grandfather was born in or around Kiev in 1908 and came through Ellis like many other Eastern European immigrants of the era, but fortunately for him his disability went unnoticed by the inspecting agents at Ellis Island because in those days one could be returned for a perceived handicap. Sam's life is rediscovered by Leah and her father one evening after searching for his old school file in the basement. To Leah's despair she realises that most of her grandfather's life has been recorded by someone else and very little was on offer about him first hand. I had the distinct feeling that Leah really wanted to connect to her grandfather for many reasons, but of the up most importance was the fact the he was her "connection" to the deaf sub-culture.
3. What is one image you won't ever forget? Draw us a picture in words to explain this. What chapter is it in? The image that made the biggest impact on me came in chapter 14 Moving the Boundaries Leah and Alec were lunching together at an mid-town burger shop when a man entered the store handing out small yellow cards with printed charity requests on them to the dinners. To my shock, at first anyway this peddler angered Alec quite a bit and Alec
's response to having this charity card handed to him was most shocking indeed, handed him the card back and dismissed the man coldly away from the table leaving Leah embarrassed. The explanation for this is both logical and understandable. The National Association of the Deaf had established an active campaign against peddling for charity on behalf of the deaf. The brutal reality is hearing people for the most part just do not care about the issues that concern the deaf.
4. What are 5 facts about ASL or Deaf culture you think everyone should know after your reading of this book? Well, the first thing I learned was that A.S.L. is not just a bunch of shadow show looking gestures, it is in fact a full functioning language with grammar and slang's and all the other vital elements that are needed for fluent communication. In regard to the actual deaf culture I was mildly shocked at how much of a sub-culture there is among the deaf. They have the same divisions and disagreements as do most minority groups. The other thing that I learned is that many deaf are not interested in hearing or belonging to any part of hearing society, they feel they can manage just fine outside of it. This is one more thing I learned. The deaf sub-culture is broken down into many sub-categories, signers, vocal, limited, uncle toms, and the lists goes on and on. The most important thing I learned is that despite all of our differences most of us want the same things out of life and the lottery of life hands out disadvantages to the hearing and non-hearing equally. In other words were are all just born into what we got and each and everyone of us has to make due with what we have. The deaf are just the same as my being born into a broken home and ultimately spending my early childhood in the projects surrounded mostly by African Americans with no feeling of belonging within that group and ostracised by whites for looking like one of them but not having the same lifestyle or financial resources. I feel this is maybe how many deaf feel, if you are vocal it will never be quite up to par, if you sign you will stand out. In this type of scenario you can find yourself alone and abandonment feelings will most likely raise their ugly face.