Dear Jim:
I assume you are still 5
years older than me and yet you have
never warned me about the “What?” faze of getting older.
Have you not noticed amongst
our peers that every conversation begins with a negotiation of “what” is being
said?
This applies to those with or
without hearing aids.
Here are a couple of absolute
true examples that explain what I mean.
“Did you buy any stocks”
No, I don’t need socks
I said STOCKS
Oh, they will all come back”
“Here is a dog you can get that
is 8.
The dog has AIDS?
No, it is 8 years old.
Who would want an 8-year-old
dog with AIDS?”
And further
“You can get the dog at the
Marche
Where is that?
It is on Brunswick
I’m not going to New Brunswick
to get a dog.”
So, now I am part of the
gang. It seems that whenever anyone addresses me the first thing, I say is “What?”.
I have no trouble carrying on the conversation once I know what we are talking
about. It works the other way as well and the confirmation of what is being
said needs to happen before either of us continue.
It is very tiring to have a
multi-subject conversation in a restaurant for example when 4 people are all
shouting “what?” every time a new thread begins.
I’m not sure how to deal with
this as it is only recently that I have noticed this phenomenon. I’m going to
monitor my experiences for a while and if necessary, I’m going to change my
friends and acquaintances. There is no way I’m going to get a hearing aid!!
I will let you know what
model they recommend.
Bill Meder
Billmeder.blogspot.com
