WHAT?

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