Funny ASL story: my wife was a student at Gallaudet (college for the deaf in Washington DC) back in the 70’s. During Carter’s inauguration, the students got the day off and were given a prominent spot on Pennsylvania Avenue. My to-be-wife was with her friends holding up a “Gallaudet College” banner.
You may have heard that one of the things Carter did during the drive from the Capitol to the White House was, he got out of the limo and walked up Pennsylvania Ave. When he got to the Gally students, he flashed the “ILY” sign with both hands to them. The kids loved it.
Mondale was a few feet behind Carter, and saw him do this. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know ASL. He mimicked what he thought was the same sign, except he didn’t use his thumbs. When he got to the Gally students, he was flashing “Bulls__t”!
She laughs about that incident to this day. :-)
“Mondale was a few feet behind Carter, and saw him do this. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t know ASL. He mimicked what he thought was the same sign, except he didn’t use his thumbs. When he got to the Gally students, he was flashing “Bulls__t”!
She laughs about that incident to this day. :-)
Great story,and although I’m no Mondale fan I have to give him a pass on this one-——it’s EXACTLY the kind of mistake that I would make. :-)
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FYI-My kids attended the schools mentioned in this link.
This has been gong on for years because they are in their fifties now and I remember the ASL at their graduations.
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Hilarious! Mondale was such a doofus!