Deaf-staffed restaurant 'Signs' opening in Toronto

I didn't get "a tone" from the writer, but it looks like a nice idea...hope it goes over well with customers.

Laura
 
It seems interesting. We could use something like that in St. Paul / Minneapolis where there's a very large deaf population.

Hey, worth thinking about!
 
it's pretty cool that the logo was designed by my good friend. will check it out sometimes this year.

It’s sure to be an entertaining — and educational — dining experience, but Signs is really more than that. Owner Anjan Manikumar has embarked on a kind of community service for a deaf population that often struggles to find employment in a speech-oriented workforce.

When Manikumar was a manager at a Boston Pizza in Markham, he noticed one of his regular guests was deaf. With no tools or education for staff to communicate with him, ordering food was a game of point, nod and serve.

Manikumar sought to change that. He learned American Sign Language, known as ASL, beginning with the basics: “hello,” for starters, a salute-like wave of the hand. And most important, “enjoy” — a two-handed chest and belly rub.
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I've been to Markham many times. It's a small city where it's full of Asian and Indian people. White people is a minority in there. a very small minority. It is indeed a sad fact that many of my Canadian friends there do not have jobs and they are struggling very hard to find one. major barrier - no VRS service and they haven't had it for a long while but the government finally started funding it and I think they will start receiving VRS service next year. many job openings require phone interview so this time - deafies finally got a chance.

“He was very delighted. He brought his friends the next day,” says Manikumar, who has since broadened his ASL vocabulary through interactions with the deaf community, a group he now calls “family.”
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Markham does have dozens of deafies around but I wonder who... that should be easy to find out for me but I haven't asked yet.
 
they got good one in Paris worth going to if there better than this one
 
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