Wednesday, June 15, 2005

Say Again?

You know the old joke about the politician who spent time in a mental institution and upon leaving was given a release form stating that he was now completely sane? He used this in his next election campaign to state he was the only certifiably sane candidate, so vote for him.

Anyway, we have had a little tension around here for several months about my ability to hear. My sweet wife has to repeat almost everything she says and claims I must have a terrible hearing loss because I do not understand what she is saying. So today I went to the otorhinolaryngologist (five "o's" for those of you who are keeping score) today to have my hearing checked.

[ A small admission here. When I had my annual physical a couple of weeks ago, I told my general practitioner doctor about this hearing problem. He said he would get his nurse to set up an appointment for me. When she called, she gave the name of the doctor, his address, time of the appointment, etc. I looked the doctor up in the yellow pages to see what kind of doctor I was being sent to. It said "Specializing in Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery". I thought this was some kind of mistake, I don't need no stinkin' surgery. So I called to see if this was indeed a place to get my hearing tested. Who knew? Why not just say "Specializing in Diseases of the Ear, Nose, and Throat"?]

I know I have trouble hearing in noisy situations and I clearly remember my dad and my grandad both had hearing aids by their early sixties. I also remember thinking my grandad was really on the leading edge of technology when he bought a hearing aid that was completely contained within the frames of his glasses! How cool was that?! He looked exactly like the little dancing dude on the Six Flags commercials with the giant black glasses frames, balding, and big ears.

Since I haven't had any hearing test since grade school, and given the inherited deaf genes, I figured we should just check this out, get a recommendation for a reliable hearing aid, and admit we are aging.

Surprise! I still hear pretty well. I have trouble with high pitched sounds (like conversation with women and children) and noisy situations such as a party.

So what does this mean? No hearing aid necessary at this time and you ladies need to speak up or get real close to me at parties. I have a note from the doctor that says I can hear.

So there.

2 Comments:

Blogger Ms. Conduct said...

Come again?

3:59 PM  
Blogger Ms. Conduct said...

Mom DOES talk softly. If I'd know, I'd have stuck up for you.

I think George is getting this too. Lately, I've tried to say something to him, repeated it in a normal tone a couple of times, and then resorted to, "The house is on fire." Also in a normal tone, but suddenly, his head pops up from whatever he's doing and he's going, "Huh? Where? What?" And I'm laughing my butt off. He hates that.

4:02 PM  

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