Leesburg man shares touching post on Starbucks learning American Sign Language
LEESBURG, Va. - A touching act of kindness and compassion by a Starbucks employee is gaining lots of attention.
A deaf Northern Virginia man shared the details of the gesture on a post on his Facebook page.
Ibby Piracha is a regular at a Starbucks in Leesburg. He comes in about three times a week to order a caramel frappuccino. He types his order on his phone to show to the cashier.
But last week, the cashier at his Starbucks wrote him a note that said, “I’ve been learning ASL (American Sign Language) just so you could have the same experience as everyone else.”
FOX 5’s Ronica Cleary met with Piracha for coffee and used the Notes app to communicate with him for an interview.
He told us the employee first surprised him by using sign language to ask him, "What do you want to drink?" Then she gave him the note.
“The note made me happy,” Piracha told us. “I felt happy that she learned to sign ASL to speak to me. I felt happy that she wrote me the note.”
FOX 5 reached out to Starbucks to request an interview with either the employee or manager. They declined our request, but a spokesperson did respond in an email saying that they always love to hear stories of meaningful connections.