I'm sorry my lack of hearing inconvenienced you

[Food Lady]

Had an SC give me a full bill, no change, and then realize she had the change. This, in and of itself, is no problem; I'm happy to oblige. But, as I had my back almost 180 degrees turned from her, as I was putting her bill in the drawer, she said something about it. Now, I heard something, but due to the nature of my hearing, I didn't register she was talking to me. I have had a lot of ear infections and allergies, so background noises compromise my hearing, and so does my being turned away. She was slightly snotty--"I said I have the [mumble] cents." I couldn't even hear the amount. I said sorry and fixed it. As she was leaving she ignored my "Have a good night." Soooooo sick of people getting snippy about it. It's not something I can control, people.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

I feel your pain there. My ears stay stopped up almost year round (allergies and OTC stuff doesn't help much to speak of) and combine that with noise and I'll have to ask the person I'm trying to hear to speak up.

Most of our customers (especially our regulars) are pretty good about that. Some knuckleheads, however, still insist on speaking at the same volume.

It bothers me too, but at the same time I won't be outdone by them and if I have to ask a zillion times for them to speak up, I'll continue to ask nicely (I'm sorry, but it's noisy in here and I cannot hear very well. Could you speak louder please?) until they get the hint.

And if they still don't get the hint, then they're denser than my Mom's pound cake and not worth being aggravated over.

[Zoom]

Slight nerve deafness on my part. No, wait, I mean on my ears-- oh too late.

Speaking of too late, by the time I can tell the slow-moving changetrain has built enough steam to shovel me some coal cash, oh, and actually TELL me he/she is doing so, I already pressed the button and the change dispenser has already made like a broken slot machine.

Have fun with your coins sir/madam/other. They'll look nice right next to the ones you were going to show me. Maybe you can show them instead to Danny DeVito in Throw Momma from the Changetrain. "Ooh! And this one... is a quarter!"

[Cazzi]

I can sympathise.. anyone comes up on my left hand side & talks to me usually gets ignored
I'm just about totally deaf in that ear & can't wear an aide very often as the eardrum is perforated so wearing one for more than a couple of hours can cause infection

Anyway, friends know about it & anyone else gets a "sorry, stone deaf on that side".. then if they want to go off in a huff about it, thats their proiblem

[BookstoreEscapee]

Speaking of too late, by the time I can tell the slow-moving changetrain has built enough steam to shovel me some coal cash, oh, and actually TELL me he/she is doing so, I already pressed the button and the change dispenser has already made like a broken slot machine.

I hardly ever use change. I like to get coins back - they go in my change can on my dresser and I put it in the bank or use it for something fun when it's full. Especially if there is an automatic coin dispenser (they have them in the cafeteria at work, which is where I mostly spend cash; I use my Discover card for most stuff). If the cashier has to count out 98 cents and I have the pennies, I might use them to save them the trouble of counting it out.

[Green_Fairy]

my job is soooo loud. steaming milk, grinders, loud music...add the jet noise of the near-by base, and i can't hear people half the time. which is why i learned to read lips. it's a really handy talent.

[Mnemjian]

And then of course when you can't hear what they said, it's YOUR fault... how can you possibly expect a SC to do something as off-putting as raising their voice slightly? What a chore

[Becks]

I get to deal with soft talkers who look down at the floor as they tell me what deli goodness they want when I'm standing in front of a rotisserie oven that's going full blast and the store's busy. (Especially fun since the hearing in my right ear is messed up from seeing Metallica in 2000. It was worth it!!!)

[seigus]

I've found hearing problems are the only time people will get mad at you for having a disability. No one yells at a blind person for not being able to see, but boy, just ask someone to repeat something and suddenly you've committed a horrific crime by not having the level of auditory function people think you should have. It's an odd little phenomenon.

[Subspace_Relay]

I've found hearing problems are the only time people will get mad at you for having a disability. No one yells at a blind person for not being able to see, but boy, just ask someone to repeat something and suddenly you've committed a horrific crime by not having the level of auditory function people think you should have. It's an odd little phenomenon.

My dad gets that one...from his siblings. "You can hear just fine when you want to". Honestly, would you tell someone who was all but blind in one eye they can see just fine when they want to?

[Cazzi]

I've found hearing problems are the only time people will get mad at you for having a disability.

My dad gets that one...from his siblings. "You can hear just fine when you want to".

People are weird like that.
My Ex hubby was the same, he didn't talk clearly as it was & snapped & got annoyed if I asked him to repeat things.

Hell, if its frustrating for them to have to repeat things, how do they think those of us who struggle feel!

[PepperElf]

one of my supervisors was like that kinda
english wasn't his first language, so he had a habit of mumbling over words he wasn't great at
and then he'd try talking to me when his back was turned

yet it was my fault i couldn't understand him

[Andara Bledin]

My dad gets that one...from his siblings. "You can hear just fine when you want to". Honestly, would you tell someone who was all but blind in one eye they can see just fine when they want to?

My former father-in-law had selective hearing.

You could be in the same room, with no background noise, and tell him something while he was paying attention to you and he'd make you repeat things.

You could be in another room, with him watching television, and you'd whisper something that you didn't want him to hear, and he'd catch every word.

^-.-^

[Jay 2K Winger]

My dad gets that one...from his siblings. "You can hear just fine when you want to". Honestly, would you tell someone who was all but blind in one eye they can see just fine when they want to?

My former father-in-law had selective hearing.

You could be in the same room, with no background noise, and tell him something while he was paying attention to you and he'd make you repeat things.

You could be in another room, with him watching television, and you'd whisper something that you didn't want him to hear, and he'd catch every word.

^-.-^

You just described my dad. He has some nerve damage from when he hit his head as a kid, which has affected his hearing. He doesn't wear his hearing aids when he's at home, and has his TV Ears in when he's watching TV (and those things are turned up loud enough that even I can understand what's being said on TV, while the TV itself is muted). Mom will holler at him to do something, he won't hear.

But when she's turned away, speaking in normal tones, across the house from where he is, and say, "Dinner's ready," he's up and out of that chair.