No I am not deaf, not even close and no I do not know anyone who is. But I do have an ear infection. What that means is that I cannot hear as well as normal. So if anyone whispers to me or speaks from the other end of the room I may not hear them properly. And its a PAIN.
What being partially deaf does is completely change how I communicate with others. Since I can't hear perfectly and since I'm not going to ask people to repeat themselves, more often than not, if I don't get exactly what the other person says all I do is simply smile and nod my head. Or use some other expression depending on what expression the other person uses. Its not perfect, and I'm sure that a lot of people probably think I'm insane.
But what I found rather funny about this is that ,deaf or not, most people use the same tactic in conversations. Haven't we all been in this one utterly boring conversation that we want no part of. And when our patience is at its end, all of us just start smiling and nodding like dolls thereby eliminating any chance that conversation had of being a good one. After all there is no conversation more boring than one where everyone agrees.
What being partially deaf does is completely change how I communicate with others. Since I can't hear perfectly and since I'm not going to ask people to repeat themselves, more often than not, if I don't get exactly what the other person says all I do is simply smile and nod my head. Or use some other expression depending on what expression the other person uses. Its not perfect, and I'm sure that a lot of people probably think I'm insane.
But what I found rather funny about this is that ,deaf or not, most people use the same tactic in conversations. Haven't we all been in this one utterly boring conversation that we want no part of. And when our patience is at its end, all of us just start smiling and nodding like dolls thereby eliminating any chance that conversation had of being a good one. After all there is no conversation more boring than one where everyone agrees.
I can definitely relate to the nodding and smiling sort of conversation. I suppose having an ear infection can be good at times when you're not the least bit interested in the conversation you're a part of. Although it does eliminate from one side of a two-sided verbal conversation.
ReplyDeleteEar infection, nice excuse. But really everyone does that. You multi-task while on the phone and you go "Eh-hum" even though you're busy or could care less about what they're saying. Harder to fake in face to face conversations though. The people I normally talk to can definitely tell if I'm zoning out.
ReplyDeleteGod, I can relate to this so much. I was born with a hearing loss in my left ear. While my parents got me a hearing aid to hear teachers in class, that's never really been a problem for me. However,I always have trouble hearing people in group conversation. And for some reason, a hearing aid doesn't help with that. I definitely use this tactic a lot.
ReplyDeleteI actually use this tactic a lot too... I'm not deaf, but I have a slight disorder where I have trouble processing the sounds that I hear. It's more of a brain issue than an ear defect, but it typically leads to a lot of confusion on my part.
ReplyDeleteI've been know to do this quite alot and freely admit it. However. I have to disagree that you, personally, are not going to ask people to repeat themselves since I clearly recall a certain Comparative Literature of Arthurian Worlds class where you did exactly that...
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