Thanks to a killer Brian Setzer concert two years ago and a life of loud music, my hearing is starting to go. It’s not anything really noticable, but the problem is that sometimes I don’t hear exactly what a person is saying…so my poor, attled brain tries to fill in the blanks (so to speak).
The trouble starts with what I ‘think’ I hear them say. For example: last time I ordered pizza the nice girl at the pizza place was describing what was in the special. This is what I ‘heard’ her say.
“Two large pizzas, one specialty, the other a one-topping; two sticks; and a dessert cookie.”
Two sticks? The conversation follows…
Me: “Two what?”
Her: “I’m sorry, what did you ask?”
Me: (realizing I heard wrong) “Did you say ‘two sticks?’”
Her: (thinking I’m crazy) “I said, ‘CHEESE sticks.’”
How did I get that wrong? This is just one of the milder stories. The thing is that what I think I hear is usually pretty dirty or nonsensical. When I ask people what they said and they tell me, they then ask what I thought they said. The people at work have a great time with me. It’s down-right embarrassing. So, tell me (and speak loudly so I can hear), does this happen to you?
Yeah, my dad has that problem. He has a constant ringing in his ears, which makes it hard for him to hear certain frequencies of sounds. Also, if he’s in a place with alot of background noise, he can barely hear anything.
But don’t worry, struuter, your hearing can go all it wants, and we’ll still love ya.
Hell, everything but your eyes, fingers, and anything else necessary to posting could go, and we’d still love ya.
I never liked loud music and I’m constantly telling my husband and daughter to turn down the radio/TV/stereo. Still, I’ve found myself asking people to repeat themselves. I choose to blame it on the way some people speak. Some are easy to understand, and others could be chanting in Klingon with a mouthful of shoestrings for all the sense it makes. It’s always worse when someone is reciting a canned speech for the millionth time - like at a fast food drive-thru or when answering a business phone. If it’s important, I make sure the person repeats what was said till I get it. If it’s a comment in passing, I don’t usually sweat it.
I have the same as Jester’s dad. Its called Tinnitus (sp?). Constant ringing in my ears cause by too much exposure to loud music (heavy metal) and firearms. It also doesn’t help that my wife is VERY soft spoken. The sad thing is that I’m not some old fart (you know, like over 40!!) I’m only 31 and already can’t hear and gradually loosing your hearing as you get older runs in my family. I figure by 50 I will be able to sleep at the end of a runway at DFW and not even notice the noise.
Open, aside from the firearms and soft-spoken wife, we’re much the same. The tone I’m always hearing is pretty dang close to a ‘D.’ I’ve had tinitus/tinnitus for a long time. But the garbled speaking makes for some people being a LOT more interesting conversationalists than they probably really are.
xizor, yeah, you’re right. I shoulda posted this to IMHO.
Jester…if I ever get virtually married, I’m going to be scamming on you…
We just recently noticed my dad’s hearing problem. He can hear talking fine, but not the alarm on a watch or the beeping of an electronic thermometer. A year of 80mm mortars going off 5 yards away would kinda dull the high tones, though…
Yeah… me too. For years, starting in high school I was big into car stereo systems. VERY LOUD car stereo systems blasting very piercing thrash metal guitar solos. I am now 28 and suffer from some hearing loss. I have tinitus also and that ringing just never goes away, though sometimes its more noticable then others. My most common phrases are “What?” and “I’m sorry what was that?” Drives my roommate crazy. Its also more on my right side then left, since that is the side that was getting blasted with the loudest music whilst driving.
'Nother buzz-ear, here. I played drums for 25 years and I’ve heard that of all the instrumentation a typical band might have, cymbals are the most damaging to one’s hearing. Ah well.
I don’t usually have trouble understanding conversation in a quiet environment, but any background noise makes comprehension difficult; the telephone can be tough, too. One thing I’ve noticed is that I can understand people better if I’m watching them speak - I’ve wondered if I’m possibly, on some pre-conscious level, lip reading to some degree.
I foresee a few hearing aids in some posters’ futures (mine included).
Boy, have you hit a nerve. I work with a woman who claims she cannot hear the way I talk. I sometimes have to repeat what I say six or seven times. She makes me crazy.
I hope you never ask anyone to repeat themselves more than once.
My husband has hearing problems too. Most people think his were actually caused by years and years of playing in a band (he’s a guitar player), but in fact, he was hit by a truck when he was 13 years old, and suffered a head injury. I’ve seen the doctor’s reports, and they pretty clearly state that he suffered damage that affected his hearing. Of course, playing loud music in the years after the accident cannot have helped his hearing.
What he has some trouble with sometimes is comprehension. He too either hears something completely different than what was actually said, or he hears it right, but his brain doesn’t process it immediately, and he says “What was that? Oh wait, never mind.”
Can anyone recommend a good hearing aid for a musician?
You know, I have a weird hearing problem. I can hear just fine, but sometimes, if a person is facing away from me when they’re talking, I will only catch random syllables.
Now, here’s the thing. I’ve got a pretty good memory for sounds, so when the random-syllable thing happens, my mind immediately starts trying to piece them together. Thus, even while I’m saying “Huh?” to the person, mentally I’m trying to figure out what they said. More often than not, I can piece it together before they’ve answered.
My wife, though, swears that I’m just trying to irritate her. I’ll say “What?”, she’ll turn around or turn down the radio or turn off the TV or whatever, and start to repeat her statement or question. As she begins, though, I respond, because I’ve figured out what she had said. Drives her absolutely crazy. “Why’d you ask me to repeat it if you heard me the first time?” she asks.
I do this, too. I can hear much better if I can see the person’s face (or mouth). If you turn your back to me I probably won’t understand everything you say. It drives my husband crazy!
I can hear bits and parts of conversations, and can usually piece together something akin to what is being said. Sometimes I catch on faster than other times. It’s much more difficult when the person speaking turns away, or it’s a guy with a heavy moustache.
Drives me nuts when Roommate says I have ‘selective hearing’. Grrrr.
Few years back my ears played “let’s see what fun stuff we can catch”. As a result, eardrums ruptured once or twice (doesn’t really matter how many times . . . ), lost some elasticity, etc. So now my hearing is at 80-90 percent of what it used to be, but my eyesight is something like 20/15 or 20/10. Makes for interesting party chat/games.
