#47. or, hand talker

  So, i'm a bit of a hand talker. More than a bit, actually. Quite an exuberant hand talker. I am aware of this problem and i work at trying to keep my gestures to a minimum while in the midst of a conversation. I'm pretty sure though, that if a group of deaf people were to walk by and catch me in the middle of a conversation, arms and hands flailing about, they might consider having me put away for screaming at them in some sort of profane form of sign.

  Yesterday, my tractor salesman took me on an hour long drive to another dealership to look at a tractor. To pass the time during the trip we talked about a number of things, but at one point, this is what i noticed.

•  SALESMAN: .......and the newer models are coming out with all of the GPS systems already fully integrated.
• ME:   i see. That's pretty interesting. This technology has gone way beyond simple point A-B line guidance.
• SALESMAN: Yes. In fact, the new system allows you to monitor the performance of your tractor from a remote location through an app that you can download into your iphone or blackberry.
• ME:  Sort of like an ag. equivalent of On-Star?
• SALESMAN: exactly!

  OK, here's where i look down and my hands are screaming this: HOLY SHIT! THAT IS SO COOL! I HAVE A BLACKBERRY YOU KNOW? IT'S BRAND NEW! IT WOULD BE AWESOME TO HAVE AN APP LIKE THAT! I'D LOVE THAT! I REALLY REALLY WOULD! .........

  This is the point where i slowly lower my hands and tuck them under my legs so as to not look like a complete idiot.

  I try pretty hard to be able to carry on an intelligent conversation. I'm a little self conscious about it. Some of it comes from being incredibly shy when i was younger. So much in fact, that at times i don't think i hardly talked at all. I'm still shy, but i try to work around it. I was missing too much by opting to stay out of the conversation. But i do not have any idea at all why my hands decided they needed to go off like a group of pre-teen girls at an all night slumber party, hopped up on Dr. Pepper and Pixie Stix? I'm still working on that.

  ...............i don't know if it's a positive or a negative, but if i ever develop Parkinson's Disease, it's going to be years before anyone realizes that i even have the symptoms.