miscommunication

I’m still chuckling about an encounter last Saturday. I helped guide a group of kayakers on a Potomac flat water tour and one member of the group was deaf. She was such a sweet, kind girl and we were able to communicate well enough through pantomimes and gestures and the help of her companions.

At the end of the tour, when we had dragged all the boats out of the water and were preparing to depart, she looked over at me and blew a kiss. Unsure of how to respond, I just smiled at her. She blew me a second kiss. I hesitated and then blew her one back.

It was only later that I realized she was simply saying “thank you” in sign language.

Has anyone else made that mistake? It doesn't stretch the imagination much to see all the problems with the similarities between these two gestures. What if she thought I was flirting with her and behaving totally inappropriately in a professional setting? There were plenty of other ways for me to respond. A nod and a wave would have sufficed. But I blew her a kiss back.