"Take off your earphones when you talk to me": policeman does not realize that the driver is wearing hearing aids
It can happen, from time to time, that one can be stopped by the traffic police for a spot check or because one has been caught committing a traffic infringement. One user described a singular episode on Reddit, in which he was stopped by a policeman who didn't notice a really important detail. The man was stopped for no apparent reason, since he had perfectly complied with the "stop" sign he had just passed through, but of course, he could not refuse to pull over when signalled to do so by the police. Once pulled over, he began to talk with the police officer, taking care to point out his dashcam which had filmed the whole incident. The following scene was hilarious to say the least.
via Reddit
The driver rolled down his window as soon as the officer approached his car: "Hello officer, what's the problem, sir?" The conversation then continued as follows: "The officer looks at me as if he's looking at a piece of chewed gum stuck to the bottom of hisshoe. He tells me, 'You didn't completely stop at the stop sign." I was wearing my hearing aids (I have lost some of my hearing due to the fact that I was previously a touring musician) and before I could answer him, he issues this order: "Sir, take off your earphones when I'm talking to you!".
At this point, the driver obeyed: he took off his "earphones", which were none other than his hearing aids, and continued to stare at the policeman without actually being able to hear him. On top of that, they were both wearing protective masks, so it was impossible for the driver to lip read. The driver then started using sign language to communicate with the policeman: "I'm deaf and I don't understand what you just said. Can you communicate in ASL (American Sign Language) please." After that, the policeman pointed to the hearing aids, that just a moment ago he thought were Apple headphones, and gestured the driver to put them back on, now fully aware that he has just made a massive gaffe.
Rawpixel / Not the actual photo
After another few moments, the policeman also becomes aware of the dashcam: he realized his gaffe had been recorded. Without taking any further action, the policeman signalled the driver to leave: magically, there was no longer any problem!
Needless to say, the driver proceeded on his way, unable to remove the smile from his face - the smile of those who know they were in the right!
