Transparent T-Shirts

I walked into the office the other day and Karen is laughing so hard it took her a minute to catch her breath and share what was so funny.

She was talking on the phone with a friend, Sylvia, who wears hearing aids. They were sharing stories about each of their sons. Both young men are in their phase of trying life experiences you would rather your parents not know about. And both moms, found out.

Karen and Sylvia were agreeing how hard it is to let them live their life. How she wants to slap him upside his head and tell him to get a clue. Karen wrapped up her thought with a saying she’s been using lately, “does that make sense?”

Sylvia responded, “It makes sense to me, but I’m not a 20 year -old guy.”

Karen said, “maybe I’ll just wear a ‘does that make sense’ t-shirt.”

Sylvia started laughing. Karen paused, knowing there had been a slight miscommunication. Sylvia heard, “maybe I’ll just wear a transparent t-shirt.”

Karen asked the subtle question, “Sylvia, where are your hearing aids?” She suspected Sylvia of not wearing her hearing aids during the conversation. Sure enough, Sylvia owned up to not wearing her hearing aids. She tried some very creative excuses for not wearing them. She was just getting out of the shower and was letting her ears dry, a valid reason, but Sylvia had not just gotten out of the shower. Then it was the excuse that Sylvia wasn’t sure if the batteries might quit while on the phone. At this point Karen stopped the excuses mid-sentence and repeated what Sylvia had just said, “but you are not a 24 year old, so no excuses.”

Even though Karen found humor in this moment, consistently misunderstanding in conversations isn’t always a laughing matter and can cause you to withdraw from social situations. If you or a friend struggle to hear clearly, call us. We can let you know if the programs on your hearing aids are at the best setting to help alleviate some of the confusion or miscommunications in your life.