So, I have been hard of hearing since I was about three years old. I got sick and lost a lot of my hearing. I wear my Hearing Aids when I want to but otherwise I don't. So living with me can be really interesting. But before you start thinking, "man, that must suck." Just hear me out, and when I'm finished saying what I have to say, maybe you'll think otherwise. I give you permission to laugh at the following blog post. I certainly think it's a good time.
1. When I put in my Hearing Aids.
2. How people feel when I put in my Hearing Aids
3. When I take my Hearing Aids out.
4. How people feel when I take out my Hearing Aids.
5.The whispered romantic "sweet nothings" are utterly lost on me.
What he says:
What I hear:
6. When I am watching movies or TV with friends.
7. So then they put on subtitles.
8. But since my ears are broken my observational skills are pretty good.
9. When others get in my car and my music starts playing.
10. When I'm not wearing my Hearing Aids and someone tries to pay me a compliment or starts to talk about me behind my back (literally).
12. When I am in class, or church or somewhere else that I kinda want to listen to what is being said and I realize I forgot my Hearing Aids.
13. What it feels like wearing Hearing Aids.
14. When someone tells a joke and I am not wearing Hearing Aids.
15. When I accidentally interrupt someone because I am not wearing my hearing aids and I didn't even know they were talking.
16. That one time I accidentally wore my Hearing Aids while driving and I realized the blinker thing "clicks."
At first I was like:
Then I was like:
Then I thought of all the people that can hear that all the time.
17. When you and I least expect it, I hear something.
18. When someone tries to talk to me and my or their back is turned.
19. Oddly, when firecrackers explode or balloons pop or things of that nature go off when I am not wearing my Hearing Aids
20. When I wear my Hearing Aids, at first, I talk like this because I think I'm talking really loudly because I can actually hear myself.
21. When someone tells me to speak up when I am wearing my Hearing Aids.
22. What people who don't know I am hard of hearing might think I am.
23. Because I may seem like I am ignoring them but really I'm probably not even aware they exist yet because I am not wearing my hearing aids.
24. When I finally tell them I am hard of hearing and they all of a sudden try to speak to me really loudly and slowly.
25. When the microwave dings, or my alarm goes off, or my roommates come in late and crash into something, when dogs bark at night, when someone tries to talk to me while they are in another room, when a boy tries to tell me he thinks I'm cute, I have a cold, there are explosions, book cases falling over, loud movies, gun shots, blenders, horns honking, loud neighbors etc.
So, being hard of hearing? It's a riot. A really quiet riot. But I can't imagine life any other way.
