Yes, that is Adrienne Bailon of Cheetah Girls and Kardashian fame, and no, she is not the woman who faked being deaf to win over a guy. Bailon's My Crazy Love story was child's play compared to Tina from Alaska. On the new Oxygen show My Crazy Love , women reveal to viewers the craziest things they've done for love. Bailon pretended to like Italian food, but Tina from Alaska pretended to be deaf.
Here's the thing about Tina from Alaska, her story actually begins in a very touching way. Tina was working at a diner where she frequently served Dwayne, a deaf customer. Tina, being the nice woman she is, wanted to communicate with Dwayne, so she started to learn sign language. See, I told you it was touching. But things took a weird turn when Tina was out at the bar one night with her girlfriends, and the "hottest guy she's ever seen" walked up to her. It was then that Tina signed to the guy — Chris — that she was deaf.
Let that sink in.
I still don't really understand why Tina told Chris she was deaf. I don't know if she was that nervous to talk to him that she decided not talking was the best way to go, but either way, Chris didn't give up on getting to know Tina. Because she had just told Chris she was deaf, Tina had to use a notepad for the remainder of their conversation at the bar, and one thing led to another, they exchanged digits, and started dating. Yes, Chris still thinks she is deaf. Tina had to, as she put it, completely change her way of life, learning not to react to street sounds, or people calling her name. Ohh, the woes of faking a hearing impairment.
She and Chris fall for each other, but unfortunately, Chris is about to leave for a three month fishing adventure. But before he leaves, he tells Tina — in the diner that started it all — that he loves her, in sign language. According to Tina, once Chris left, things fizzled out between the two of them, and he stopped answering her texts. As far as Tina is concerned, "To this day he does not know that she was deaf." Something tells me that is about to change, Tina.
So obviously Tina faking being deaf is pretty offensive. She didn't play on any stereotypes (at least not in the dramatization), which is good, but still, maybe this should be a lesson learned by all that we shouldn't ever fake having an impairment of any kind. Can we just agree on that?
Here's how I think Tina and Chris could have made it:
Chris: Hey, I'm Chris. I'm a fisherman. Can I buy you a drink?
Tina: (verbally) Hi Chris, I'm Tina from Alaska. Yes, you can buy me a drink. (Or no, if she wasn't feeling it)
Honesty, it really is the best policy.
Images: Oxygen; Giphy
