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One of the best things about reading newspapers online, as opposed to the conventional finger-blackening newsprint, is that you don't have to worry about finding the rest of the story which is "continued on page 5, column 4" -- nor fret over someone clipping the coupons from page 6 before you can read it.

Moreover, you don't have to go outside to get it or write a note to get it back from your presumptuous neighbor who inconsiderately takes it from the hooks under the mailbox before you can get it.

Our local newspaper, "The Wausau Daily Herald," isn't online yet and even if it was we would still get the print version just for the coupons. I would read it if it was online though., and we'd only be out the coupons if our neighbor takes our paper again.

This week when Julie had to ask our neighbor, who is deaf but reads lips, if she had our paper I was surprised that she actually got it back -- with no apology or explanation -- and when Julie turned to where the front page story that she was reading was to continue, she found only a hole where something was cut out from the other side of the page.

When I first came to Wausau, now over seventeen years ago, I stayed at a dormitory for both visually impaired and hearing impaired students. It didn't take long to learn that mixing blind and deaf people can be like oil and water, and the facility narrowed it's mission to include only visually impaired residents.

I could still see pretty well then and got along well with the deaf students -- I even learned a little sign language -- but I also saw through the eyes of the blind students there so to speak, and could understand their uneasiness. It really is quite disconcerting to hear someone breathing and get no response to a "hello." And to make matters worse, two of the deaf students who were there while I was, were suspected of (I think one was caught) stealing from the blind students.

I still remember a few signs and some of the alphabet, but not enough to say anything except "thank you," or "I love you." And of course there's always that universal middle finger.

I've also brought with me, a prejudice towards deaf people which is hard to shake given the actions of our neighbor, Dawn, who lives above us.

Without the benefit of facial expressions and body language, I have only a persons words and tone of voice on which to base my judgement of them. My only input from a deaf person however, is through someone else and is therefore inherently biased, unintentionally filtered and even embellished by the interpreter.

It shouldn't really matter that she is deaf, except that it makes it difficult to air our concerns with her. Julie writes notes back and forth with her but Dawn is easily offended so that even mentioning a small annoyance can get misunderstood and blown out of proportion. She seems to think what's ours is hers, including our laundry facilities which we have been letting her use rather than fight about it -- but next time the washer breaks she will get the bill.

Dawn is no more representative of the deaf community than I am of the blind. I'm not saying that all deaf people steal newspapers and help themselves to other peoples stuff, just that it is difficult to confront them tactfully when they do. That and the fact that when you can't talk to someone, it's pretty tough to get to know them.

This is another way that the internet email and chats, even when dealing with neighbors, can overcome barriers. If only Dawn would get a computer and an internet account. Then we could meet on common ground to get to know one another.

I would love to have the chance to ask her directly why she does some of the things she does and even more to give her the chance to answer in her own words. I get the feeling that she really doesn't realize that what she is doing is wrong, or somehow justifies her actions within herself, but if she wasn't deaf I'd say right out "what's up with that?"

Someday perhaps she will read this column, and maybe then I'll get my chance. Who knows? She may even be able to read the newspaper online by then.