btw deafness came up as an analogy because there’s a dev at work who is deaf

but i work remotely so i talk to everyone pretty much exclusively via IRC, and i talk to this guy a fair amount

then when i visit the office and see him i realize i have no way to communicate with him except vague nods and gestures

and it is just kind of surreal so it sticks in my head haha

(also trying to say heavily technical things through an interpreter breaks down so fast it’s hilarious; we’ve tried a couple times and the interpreter can never quite keep up with either of us and we have to guess half of what the other is saying)