Opus 2024-301: Hear Ye. Hear Ye.

One of the characteristics of getting older is that your hearing has a tendency to go downhill.  It may not be in everyone, but I have a suspicion that it is.  We compensate.  We live with it.  For most of us it is not the end of the world, just a minor difficulty.

My wife is convinced that I am losing my hearing and that I need to be tested with the idea that I get hearing aids.  I know that I don’t hear as well as I used to.  That has been a process going on for years.  I know that my left ear is worse than my right ear.  I also know that hearing aids generally don’t work very well in noisy environments, such as modern restaurants and TV lounges.  My question would be what is the point of having my hearing tested when I am not interested in getting a hearing aid?

An example of the tension took place this weekend.  We were meeting another couple for lunch at a noisy restaurant.  As we waited, my wife said something, and I heard everything very well, except for the last word.  She was sitting on the side of my bad ear, so I accepted the fact that I had missed it.  No problem for me at least.  I asked her to repeat it.  She did.  But I noticed that both times her voice declined in volume as the as the sentence proceeded, so that by the time she got to the end, she was speaking in the voice that you used when you don’t want the NSA to overhear your conversation.  I asked her about that specific word, and she went ballistic about my hearing and how I needed to have my hearing tested.  OK.  I dropped the question assuming that I really didn’t need to know what the word was since she didn’t want to say it clearly.

We were there for an hour and a half, having pleasant conversation across the table and surrounded by the same noisy restaurant.  I did not have any more trouble the entire meal hearing or understanding what was said.  Which brings up a question in my mind.  Do I need a hearing aid?  Or does she need speech therapy?  I am willing to accept the jury is out.  I know that I don’t hear as well as I should.  But I also know that like most people I have a hard time hearing someone two rooms away, around several corners, while the water is running and the microwave is working right next to me.

I have no intention of having my hearing checked, until I have a very difficult time understanding someone speaking clearly directly in front of me in a conversation where we are both not worried about the NSA listening.

Hubris?  Arrogance?  Insensitivity?  No, just reality.

homo unius libri