I generally work alone during my shifts, or perhaps I have a coworker for a few hours at either end.
If I work with someone more than a couple of times, I will probably say the following to them:
I have a small amount of hearing loss. Years ago I got my hearing tested, and the guy at the testing place asked why and I said "I work in a restaurant kitchen, and I often have trouble understanding my boss. I say he mumbles, he says I need my hearing checked. So here I am."
At the end of my test, the tester said to me "Tell your boss I said he mumbles."
HOWEVER, despite the fact that my hearing is as-good-as or better-than normal for someone my age, there were certain frequency ranges where my hearing is much worse than in others, and those are the frequencies of human speech. And my ability to distinguish sounds drops off sharply in the presence of background noise. This is damage I have done.
So, while all of my hearing is as good as you would expect from someone my age, I have a comparatively hard time understanding what people are saying when they talk, especially in places with a lot of noise. And the stores I work in have a constant hum at about 75 decibels.
So if it is important that I understand you, you are going to need to stand near me and speak loudly and clearly. Otherwise, ... I can tell that you are talking, but I can't understand what you say.
Years ago I was working in a different convenience store, and there we always had two people working.
I was ringing a customer up when my long-time co-worker came out of the cooler, 40 feet away, and said ... something. Kinda loudly.
I completely ignored him, as in I didn't even react to the fact that he had spoken. This apparently struck my (regular) customer as strange, and he looked at me quizzically. I shrugged and said, "He knows I can't hear him."
And that's really where I was at with that: I had explained (more than once), that if he wasn't within about ten feet of me I probably couldn't understand him at all. The fact that he didn't approach me before talking meant he didn't care if I heard him or not. So neither did I.
Oddly enough, my hearing issues come into play much more with coworkers than customers. Customers take it pretty well when I walk closer to them and open with, "I'm sorry, I couldn't understand any of that." The only real problem is the rare occasion where there is a long line at the register and the rarer subset of times several groups begin a loud conversation: It turns into a feeling like ocean waves crashing into me, as I can't understand what anybody is saying. Even the customer right in front of me, struggling to be heard above the crowd.
Happens maybe twice a year.
But coworkers who think raising their voice a little will compensate for them being 25 feet away, that happens all the time.
So I take the time to explain to them that I can't understand them when they stand that far away, because there is far too much other noise in the store. A couple of times.
And then I just assume that if it mattered to them if I understood them, they'd stand closer.
If I work with someone more than a couple of times, I will probably say the following to them:
I have a small amount of hearing loss. Years ago I got my hearing tested, and the guy at the testing place asked why and I said "I work in a restaurant kitchen, and I often have trouble understanding my boss. I say he mumbles, he says I need my hearing checked. So here I am."
At the end of my test, the tester said to me "Tell your boss I said he mumbles."
HOWEVER, despite the fact that my hearing is as-good-as or better-than normal for someone my age, there were certain frequency ranges where my hearing is much worse than in others, and those are the frequencies of human speech. And my ability to distinguish sounds drops off sharply in the presence of background noise. This is damage I have done.
So, while all of my hearing is as good as you would expect from someone my age, I have a comparatively hard time understanding what people are saying when they talk, especially in places with a lot of noise. And the stores I work in have a constant hum at about 75 decibels.
So if it is important that I understand you, you are going to need to stand near me and speak loudly and clearly. Otherwise, ... I can tell that you are talking, but I can't understand what you say.
Years ago I was working in a different convenience store, and there we always had two people working.
I was ringing a customer up when my long-time co-worker came out of the cooler, 40 feet away, and said ... something. Kinda loudly.
I completely ignored him, as in I didn't even react to the fact that he had spoken. This apparently struck my (regular) customer as strange, and he looked at me quizzically. I shrugged and said, "He knows I can't hear him."
And that's really where I was at with that: I had explained (more than once), that if he wasn't within about ten feet of me I probably couldn't understand him at all. The fact that he didn't approach me before talking meant he didn't care if I heard him or not. So neither did I.
Oddly enough, my hearing issues come into play much more with coworkers than customers. Customers take it pretty well when I walk closer to them and open with, "I'm sorry, I couldn't understand any of that." The only real problem is the rare occasion where there is a long line at the register and the rarer subset of times several groups begin a loud conversation: It turns into a feeling like ocean waves crashing into me, as I can't understand what anybody is saying. Even the customer right in front of me, struggling to be heard above the crowd.
Happens maybe twice a year.
But coworkers who think raising their voice a little will compensate for them being 25 feet away, that happens all the time.
So I take the time to explain to them that I can't understand them when they stand that far away, because there is far too much other noise in the store. A couple of times.
And then I just assume that if it mattered to them if I understood them, they'd stand closer.
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