I’m at the bank. The woman at the window next to me presses a piece of paper against the bulletproof partition and makes the international gesture for writing. She’s asking for a pen to communicate. She wants to make a deposit. Now there’s two tellers. The first one is getting exasperated and the second teller is talking slow and loud like she is talking to a child. I finish my transaction, walk over and introduce myself. She tells me that she doesn’t know sign language. I tell her that I don’t either, but I’d like to learn. She moves her powered chair over to the lobby area while I talk to one of the financial advisers in the office area. He asks us to wait while he gets a teller. While we wait, we experiment with the Gravilux app on my iPad. Then we try the Brushes app. She writes notes in red, then blue. She writes about her daughter, who is studying in Russia. A teller comes out, takes the check, and makes the deposit in two minutes flat. We say goodbye and part. As I bike away from the bank, I pass her on the sidewalk. We wave and smile at each other. The sun is out and the streets are starting to thaw.
