Since as far back as I remember I have had hearing problems, I had a lot of ear infections when I was a kid and even as a teenager I suffered with bad ears.
About 20 years ago I had Tympanostomy tubes inserted into each eardrum to help prevent the accumulation of fluid in the middle ear, To my doctors surprise they are still in place and working.
Growing up with hearing loss is horrible, my friends and family can get annoyed at me really quickly when I keep asking them to repeat themselves yet very quickly afterwards they revert to the same quiet tone that prevented me hearing them in the first place, you can see the pattern. They are not doing it out of spite it’s just natural to them I suppose.
I have spent most of my life avoiding people I know speak quietly as the embarrassment of keep asking them to repeat themselves can get too much for me. I am guessing that’s why I enjoy my own company so much 🙂
If people try to do any task and they fail, after the 2nd attempt they would try to complete that task a different way but when I ask someone to repeat themselves and after the 3rd or 4th attempt they still repeat themselves in the same tone and volume I find it very frustrating – I even point to my hearing aid when asking them to repeat themselves but it does not help. It’s at this point I usually give up and either nod my head in pretence or just finish the conversation by just telling them I cannot hear them.
I was going to the gym the week before last. I like to wear my headphones in the gym so I left my hearing aid at home (Stupid I know). When I boarded a bus I recognised the driver and said hello to him, he started to talk to me and I quickly stopped him, apologising and explained that I don’t have my hearing aid in and would not be able to hear him. The driver nodded cheerfully and said he understood, he then proceeded to drive down the road chatting away to me – I never heard a word, I just kept nodding in hopefully the right times but could not get off the bus quick enough 😦
It always makes me laugh with my kids, when they are upset with me they talk quiet and mumble but when they want something they make perfect eye contact, speak lovely and slow and at a nice volume, now if only everyone was that considerate I would be a very happy man 🙂
Life of Dave 