Age

So I was interested in seeing if the livingwithhearingloss.blogspot.com was really taken and it was, and he bought up a couple of interesting points. Even though he only wrote three short things, and he wasn't born with it, and his posts were boring, it was a decent blog. (Not to toot my own horn, but, hey you know, my fingers do magical things)

He mentioned that there was something like 30 million people with hearing loss (ok, it's just a number, that number means jack shit to us, it doesn't put things in perspective, we are visual animals, unless we see, feel, or taste something, words do nothing for us) But he mentioned the number was getting higher because of baby boomers hitting their 60s.

I have nothing against people of age with hearing loss, at all. But what frustrates me is people of age with a hearing loss who complain they have it hard. I mean, it hits them like a sack of wet bricks - being hearing impaired sucks - bottom line. Why the bricks were wet, I don't know, but it sounded much more brutal, eh? Anyways, yes, being hearing impaired does suck, but don't go so far as to say, hey we have it hard, give us benefits or bonuses. You think you have it hard? At an age where you are stereotypically NOT supposed to hear well, people kind of expect the whole "senile" way of life you're about to embark on. And pardon my use of the word senile, it's so very stereotypical but it's the best fit. You try dealing with what you have towards the end of your life, after all is said and done, for the entirety of your life. Yeah, I'm glad you gain the perspective, and I feel for you, I really do, I wouldn't wish this upon my worst enemy, ever. But don't tell me you have it hard, instead, how about instead of channeling your energy into how life is difficult as you age, channel it into making life better and more understood for the young kids.

I am 19 now, I am by no means an old fart (although I feel it, a 5 year old in a 19 year olds body - oh and ladies, don't worry, I have the sex drive of a 19 year old) but I've been dealing with it for 17 years. That magic formula, I recieved my hearing aids at 2, so take however many years I am old and subtract 2. That's the amount of time I've spent with hearing aids. But, hey, it's a number, and lest I be a hypocrite, that number means jack shit to you. Ok, how bout this, take some cotton balls, put enough into your left ear that you can barely hear anything, you know there's a sound, but you don't know what it's saying or where it's coming from. In your right ear, put enough so everything sounds kinda muffled, like when you get to the point where if you know the subject matter, you kinda can tell what they are saying, but if they say random things, you have no idea what they are saying. Once you're there, imagine that - for 17 years. Yeah, good luck with that experiment, and please don't attempt it, by the time those 17 years are up, i'll have a whole nother 17 years on you, and you'll have to outlive me by 17 years to finish it. And I plan on living a long time. But those are just words, that long doesn't mean anything to you does it? Well I'll put it this way, the way technology is going, we have two paths. Soon everyone will be hearing impaired from the extremely loud noises we generate, or everyone will have crystalline hearing because all the sounds of entertainment will be channeled directly to your auditory inputs without causing the physical damage on your ossicles or ear drum. (Hey neurologists, don't you dare touch that, I want that experiment to myself in 9 or so years from now - and for those of you who hear of it down the line, don't forget who thought it first).

Yeah I'll cut this short, short by relative means, but still long by general means. And short like, well, shorts short enough that you can see that old man's balls dangling out the side. Yeah, that short.