#11: Dinner at Lagneaux's

Louisiana-Bound! (2008) Part 11 of 40: Dinner at Lagneaux's When we first arrived at Lagneaux's Restaurant and headed over to a long table set up for 13, Melanie took note of the seats that had the best lighting. She tried several time to seat herself in the lighted area but each time she did, a deaf man named John kept shaking his head and pushing her down toward the darker end of the long table. Melanie went back to the lighted area and attempted to seat herself one more time when once again John pushed her toward the darker end. Melanie started feeling a bit frustrated and told John that she had Usher Syndrome and prefered to sit in a well-lit area. He simply smiled at her and kept pushing her back to the darker end. This was an unfortunate incident and, unfortunately, others started filling up the seats where Melanie had wanted to be. Melanie made the best of the situation and later talked to John's wife Jane who was an interpreter. Jane told Melanie that she would let John know that he had been wrong to treat Melanie this way. Later, when Melanie shared this with Tom, he told her, "You should have come and tapped me on the shoulder and told me because I would have made sure that you sat with us where the light was better!" Interestingly enough, Melanie and Tom are distant cousins, sharing a common ancestor, Thomas Hooker, founder of Hartford, Connecticut. There were thirteen at the table at Lagneaux's Restaurant. It was full to capacity. A lady in a white tee-shirt arrived later and sat at a table near us. Her name might have been Judith. Some joined her at times. Ah, I got to observe John Lee Clark as he sat right across from me. The meals took a little while coming. Yenter was one of the first served. I do not know if he had three pounds of crawfish or five pounds. But he sure had the eating down to an art. Just like Melanie said! It was the first time I saw anyone eat crawfish. Yenter had two large identical metal bowls. I am sure they fit inside each other. The single bowl capacity must have been about 6 quarts, maybe 8. I'm serious here! lol. He must have been an expert crawfish eater. But Yenter's real talent was giving expert help to any who required it. Yes, Betty and Yenter sacrificed much of their time serving others. I would say they went above and beyond the call of duty. And they moved quickly. Mark often changed places at the table. It wasn't unusual to see him come and talk with me. Sometimes he pretended to make Melanie jealous by putting his smooth face against my bearded face. And then he would reverse the tactics. We laughed about that! He likes to try strange or new dishes at restaurants and this was no exception. Melanie whispered, "Mark's having alligator." It didn't surprise me. He has a great appetite. And if Mark was hungry and put in a pond with an alligator, the odds would probably be 50/50, lol. Now across from me was John Lee Clark. His dinner, maybe was hamburger, I'm not sure, but it did not come early. He talked to the people beside him for a while. Then he came over and talked to Melanie, my wife, who was on my left side. That meant he had to pass right by me. He took quite a few minutes talking with Melanie and continued on to the left. Then he moved along again, one by one down the table talking in turn to each person. There was Melanie, Mark, Donna, Cleve, Tom. Somewhere in that group John Lee's dinner was served. It sat and started to get cold. John Lee kept talking! Jessica, the giggler, a lovely lady and her sidekick Philomena were next along the table. What a pleasant two they were. I was thinking, Okay, John, what will it be, conversation or dinner? Yeah, he knew his dinner had been served, yet he kept greeting people around the table. He wasn't going to stop for dinner until he got back to his place. Dan and Nikki were two of the last before he was back to his seat. Did he take a bite or two? I do not know. You see, I don't see everything, lol. But I was impressed with the caring shown by John Lee. And yet, he forgot me. I wondered for a few seconds, and then there he was on my right side. He asked me how I liked the meal. I asked him something of the same in broken sign. No frustration was seen in John Lee's desire to communicate with me. He wanted to share information to help me feel accepted at the dinner table. I see that as a very determined outgoing concern for others. And there you have it. A most unusual and very caring person, indeed. Now he could get down to eating. And finally he did just that. Later, on our side of the table a few seats to my left, Jane was trying to get my attention. And maybe Melinda too. Jane signed something like. "Are you and Melanie tired and ready to go home?" Yeah, I nodded and also, pointed to Melanie and made a tired sign. How thoughtful it was of the ladies to be considerate of our situation. It had been a long day. The gears were set in motion to wrap things up. Melanie and I took a restroom break. That gave me extra time to walk around and check the great wall plaques or taxidermied fish. How impressive were some of the large fish caught in Louisiana and the Gulf states. A beautiful red fish which weighed 40 pounds, a 39-pound snook, a 17-pound bass, and a 33-pound red snapper were only a few of the ones on display. Melanie came out of the restroom and we waited for all the goodbyes. Once most were up from the table, we felt we were close to leaving. It is hard for deafblind people to say goodbye and that was okay. We walked outside and quickly returned as mosquitoes or flies or something were waiting in swarms to make life miserable for us. In one situation, Mark joined the talk John Lee was having with another woman. Usually his effervesence often overflowed. But the talk was personal so John Lee interrupted Mark's signing by placing his hand over Mark's hands. Mark was frustrated by not being able to talk to the woman so pretended to shoot John Lee. But Mark seemed to have a great time. He always finds some time to include me. His bubbling enthusiasm often errupts in loud laughter. A most friendly person with a million stories to share. The conversation switched from the table to a standing area around the table, then to the outside, and finally home. Nikki drove us there. Written by Harvey A. Bond and Ipo May 8, 2008

 

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