Tone-ism

This summer will mark my fourth year with hearing aides. What's my favorite part of this? I'll be eligible for a new set. Yahoo! Very exciting in my book. Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but I'm hoping for even better amplification and sound quality. The technology continues to improve. Plus with a few years of wearing experience, I have a better idea of what to ask for next time around.

It's not all warm fuzzy news. Though my hearing aides have been an incredible help, they're not full-proof. There are still situations I have problems with--crowds being the main one.  But even in a crowd there are some people's voices I can hear and understand. It has to do with their tone, speed of speech and enunciation. And of course proximity helps, too.

I''m ashamed to admit this, but I avoid conversations with people whose voices are difficult for me to hear. There are only so many times I can say, "I beg your pardon?", "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you" or  "could you say that again?". And I'm sure the person I have trouble hearing wonders what that expression on my face is. I haven't seen the expression, but I'm guessing it's a blank look as I will the sounds that came from your mouth to go reassemble themselves into sentences in my brain.

So, you see, it's not because I don't like you or that I don't enjoy your company. As a matter of fact, I'm not always aware that I'm doing the avoiding. But it's all about the hearing. Huh, I guess it's true-- I'm guilty of tone-ism.