Imagine the epitome of feeling excluded from your friends who are all laughing after a funny story has ended, and so you don’t stand out, laugh also, feigning that you understood? It happens to me often. Sometimes I’ll approach one of the gang later to double-check the punchline. I’m careful not to say I didn’t hear properly though. But a joke ceases to be funny if it has to be explained. Hearing loss can make it difficult to understand jokes and funny stories particularly because of the unexpected twists, wordplay or the punch line at the end.
I guess I noticed a little deterioration in hearing ability after Covid slowed and some community meetings resumed that I regularly attended. I had difficulty following the conversations of some members. In fact, in one meeting a guest speaker was there with an interesting topic but I barely heard a few words and missed the point. After that I stopped going to meetings which raised questions from the others why I was absent from them.
One lady in the neighborhood who had gotten hearing aids was continuing to have communication problems. Finally she revealed to her sister that she doesn’t like turning her hearing aids on because it wears down the batteries. This comedic moment was only made possible because of her deafness.
But of course it was very difficult for Sheila. She had to repeat everything two or three times while turning up the volume. Even then, I would misinterpret what she said. It was so frustrating for both of us. I pretended I didn’t hear at all and walked away to avoid the repetition occurring. Often when she needed items picked up at the supermarket, I would bring home some things of no relevance to what she had asked.
When I was young, there was a small convenience store, less than a block away, owned by a man who wore such large hearing aids it made me think of two potatoes hanging from his ears with wires growing from them. Since then hearing aids have had a negative impression, more so when my own father got his, less obscure than the potato ones but still a distraction. My father was good to his children but the one quandary was management of his hearing aids. He would inevitably let the batteries drain too low, now beginning to talk too loudly, the television volume up so loud we couldn’t argue properly. He got the message and put in batteries in a day two. One time he left them on the table. I took them and was trying to change the batteries rather than an impending argument – but he caught me in the act.
Hearing loss in individuals can have trouble detecting and/or interpreting sarcasm as can those with autism might. Even when children with hearing loss have mastered language and social skill milestones during preschool years, there is no guarantee that age-appropriate understanding of verbal irony will be grasped later in life.
I like to think of hearing loss as similar to having the volume knob on a stereo turned up or down, covering the whole range of hearing. The world could be quieter for me too if I had a hearing impairment, but not realistic. Too many were pressuring me about my
hearing and when I heard this remark, “Life is a puzzle; you can only see the picture when you put all the pieces together, “ I finally gave up and right then made an appointment in Ottawa for a test.
It was the largest retailer in the city that requires membership. I arrived at 2 pm on May 17, walked into the test centre, said my name and announced I was here for a hearing test. The person looking at her schedule said, “Is it for contact lenses or vision help?” I said, “My ears not my eyes.” She said the hearing centre is at the other side of the store.”
I went to the correct location, had the one-hour test, saw the print-out of my unabridged results – “No more denial.” The final version will be ready in two weeks. I may not tell anyone, just surprise them.
Then, in a conversation, I’ll say, “Your story is music to my ears.”
