Number 4 Block Informative Speech

Sixteen years of Speech Therapy ingrained a personal, unique hatred of the letter "R."You would hate it too if you had sixteen years of audio recordings, worksheets, and homework to say every word in the English language with an "R"

I can say most R-words now, even if it's with an accent or some sort of drawl, and those that I struggle with I find my way around.

For instance, I find my way even when simply ordering my favorite Taco Bell #4 Combo (it's a Mexican Pizza and 2 soft tacos, if you're curious), I hear myself say the "R" in "Four," but I actually drop the "R" at the end. So instead of "four," it sounds like, "Fou," or the cashier assumes "five."

To avoid this mishap, I enter the building and order the "Number Four" and lift 4 fingers up to visually signal. The cashier always

Literally four steps away from where I stood.

I tried to improve the situation by thanking him and admitting how silly I felt for not finding it. The deed was done though; I snapped and was another unhinged, grocery store lady he dealt with that day. Obviously, he left that aisle as fast as he could.

In hindsight, as I've shared this story with a couple friends and family, there is the possibility that he was mocking my speech. Being teased quite often as a kid and an adult, I can easily recognize it and usually the bully smirks or chuckles as they comment on my speech. He did not do this nor did he give that impression he was teasing me. I'd like to believe that he's a better person than that and simply misunderstood me.

I regret snapping at this guy and becoming the angry, grocery store lady. It's rude and I could've told him about Apraxia instead. When I lash out after struggling to communicate, others do not want to further talk to me and they certainly couldn't care less about why I speak the way I