A little comon sense is needed on both sides.
Suppose the clerk had greeted you instead of your wife, and it was you who was rude to the cleck by ignoring her.................
Unless the deaf hang a sign around their neck, some awkward moments are sure to occur.
So, are you suggesting that if deaf people want to avoid having a crowbar slammed against their head they should wear a sign around their neck saying, “I’m deaf”? Or are you suggesting that deaf people will just have to live with the consequences of getting the head bashed in one once in a while because it’s rude to ignore the clerk at the cash register? What kind of common sense is that?
That's one reason why deafness is often called "the invisible handicap". You can see a wheelchair, or a seeing-eye dog, but unless a deaf person is signing, one's disability is not noticed. Even hearing aids today are so small you can hardly see them.
A dear friend of mine who was blind once remarked to me that she would rather have been blind than deaf. Surprised at the notion, I asked her why. She said that being blind, she can at least communicate with the world through her ears; she felt that deafness is a terribly isolating disability.
I usually don’t talk much in public. I talk only as much as I feel is necessary. Nobody should have the right to make me. We were talking about respect or disrespect. There would be a severe problem if some jackass clerk disrespected me by trying to hit me with a crowbar.