I came across a man in the train station while waiting for the LIRR. He was the only one there, and so was I when I entered onto the platform. As I walked toward the front of the train, I came closer to where he had been standing. I noticed him eyeing me and could tell he wanted to ask me a question. He was a Hispanic man, and I never assumed where he might be from, but I could tell he was slightly unsure of his location or of what train he needed to board. I still had about 30 mins before my train departed so I sat down and waited. The man approached me with the question I had anticipated; “Excuse me?”, he says, which were about the only two words I understood right away. He then asks, “Is this the train to *inaudible*?”. His speech was choppy, and the noise throughout the station did not help either.  I asked him again, and I could not hear what he was saying. In hindsight, it sounded like he had been asking for the train to “Manhattan”, but I had only heard “Marta or Mata”, or something of the sort. After the third time, I started to feel apologetic because it was clear that I was not comprehending, and the confusion was written all over my face.

 The part I felt worse about was how hard he was trying to communicate with me, and how badly I wanted to be able to communicate with him in return. Even the small amount of Spanish I do know slipped my brain at that moment, and I did not even think to switch to his first language. My point in sharing that was to express how my language can be inadequate at times. Though I was unable to assist him verbally, he still understood that I could not help him based on my gestures and my facial expressions. When I think of a universal language, it is far from speech. It exists as a way to unite us all rather than to deviate us from our human connection. Even if my use of language is not a normal mode of communication, I would like to think that my non-verbal cues are just as useful, if not more.