Now, Mom is good about remembering to wear her brand-new hearing aids, but my hubby Steve is not.
However, even when Mom wears hers, it is sometimes a nuisance for her because voices and background sounds are just amplified, making hearing nearly impossible. When that happens, she takes them out, which just makes it worse and frustrates the hell out of her.
She recently went to a meeting where the venue had a low ceiling and, therefore, had bad acoustics. When she arrived home, she called to tell me about, in her words, “the worst three hours of my life.”
During the meeting, she said she couldn’t hear anything other than murmurs and mumbling. Mom said that, in her opinion, it would have been helpful if people at the podium would project their voices (there was no microphone) and look at the audience.
So, instead of enjoying her meeting, she spent time taking on and off her new hearing aids, to no avail. Instead of being able to enjoy the event, she doodled and drew pictures of houses and people.
When she shared that part of her story, I laughed myself silly. I wasn’t laughing at her; I was laughing with her. You see, I too have been stuck at events where I couldn’t hear a darn thing. Instead of drawing pictures, I make out grocery lists or write down what I need to buy for our friends and family members for Christmas gifts. Either way, I guess our events turned out to be a bit productive, even if the original purpose for the meetings was not achieved— that of gathering information that was being shared verbally.
Now, let me tell you about Steve and his brand-new hearing aids.
At least half the time (no, I don’t mean while he is sleeping), he doesn’t wear them. He ends up frustrated, and so do I. He sometimes mishears what I am saying and then gets angry at me for what he thinks he heard me say. Let’s just say that, for now, he has promised to be a bit more vigilant about putting those little amplifiers in his ears. We’ll see.
Besides telling about more hearing issues related to my two favorite people, below I have found some quotes to share with you, our loyal readers. Enjoy.
Yet it was impossible for me to say to people, ‘Speak louder, shout, for I am deaf.’ Ah, how could I possibly admit an infirmity in the one sense which ought to be more perfect in me than others, a sense which I once possessed in the highest perfection, a perfection such as few in my profession enjoy or ever have enjoyed.
—Ludwig van Beethoven
Blindness separates us from things, but deafness separates us from people.
—Helen Keller
The thing about hearing loss is that no one can see it. Most people are so impatient; they just assume that the person with hearing loss is being rude, or slow-witted.
—Marion Ross
Rule number one is, make sure that you face the person with hearing loss when you are speaking to them.
—Marion Ross
Are you having problems hearing? If so, those around you already know it. Hearing loss is no laughing matter, so don’t be a punchline.
—Leslie Nielsen
