Sunday, April 26, 2009

TBWCYL Day 116 - What? I can't hear you.

So, it is time for another 'Senseless Day' courtesy of the book. You may recall I have already gone without the sense of sight. Well, today I had to loose my sense of hearing.

Last night, before I went to bed I inserted 2 green ear plugs into my ears and slept that way. So, when I woke up this morning, I was already started on the task of not hearing. Recreating deafness is not easy and ear plugs aren't the best thing to do it but that is all I have. They block out a good majority of the noise but I can still hear Diana occasionally and the dogs barking comes through.

The weirdest part is that I can still hear everything I do. Stepping is like a bass drum going off, coughing or sneezing is like an explosion, and drinking sounds like I am pouring water down the drain.

My shower this morning was reminiscent of when you take your car through a car wash. As water rained down on my head, thoughts of sprayers hitting my windshield came to mind. It was as if all sound was being held away by the water and was slightly odd. After my shower I took the opportunity to replace the ear plugs for a fresh pair and started my day.

Diana left me to go shopping this afternoon. We both knew her being at home would hinder any chance of me getting some quite. However, around 2 she came to pick me up for lunch. We went to La Madeline, which is a restaurant chain that serves faux French food. I had a French Dip sandwich & chips and with every bite it sounded like walking heavily through gravel. I saw another man there wearing hearing aids and thought to go ask him what it is like to really be deaf. I imagine it would have gone something like this...

"Can you tell me what it is like to be deaf?"
"Wha?"
"I said, CAN YOU TELL ME WHAT IT IS LIKE TO BE DEAF?"
"Wha? I am deaf. I don't udderstan' what you are saying."
"I KNOW YOU ARE DEAF. WHAT IS IS LIKE?"
Random sign language gestures.
"I DON'T KNOW SIGN LANGUAGE."
"Wha?"

Also during her absence I watched a TV show in closed caption. Can I just say that this sucks? I have been at the gym and watched TV with closed captions running but never read them. I watched something online today and the captions ran fine but the humor was lost because I was reading instead of watching. I don't know how the deaf do it.

I accompanies Diana to Target to do some shopping and wandered the store aimlessly. I didn't see anyone giving me strange looks and was able to buy a couple of shirts without any problem. We came home and read for the rest of the afternoon.

During our reading, I heard Diana yell out, "William Shatner was Captain Kirk?" I looked over at her and yelled, "DUH!" and it occurred to her that I am supposed to be deaf and she started mouthing "I'm sorry. I forgot." In which I jubilantly proclaimed, "Its a Miracle, I can hear."

I spent the remainder of the night finishing a second book, my first was finished this morning, and sitting. I took my ear buds out right before bed and as I said "Hello" for the first time, my voice sounded more like an echo than speech. I told Diana earlier that I think it wouldn't be so bad to loose my hearing but I think that is not the case. By the end of the day I have decided that it is worth more than I originally gave it credit for. Though I did get a lot of reading done today so...

That is all,

Newt

3 Ripples in the pond:

Girl Interrupted said...

You'd look hilarious with an ear trumpet

Addy's Daddy said...

Good lord, Diana. Where have you been since 1964? I would have known that Shatner was Kirk, even if I didn't have a man-crush on him!

Trinity said...

I was also surprised at this. There are times where Diana gets agitated when I ask questions like, "Have you seen 'The Lion King'" but I always have to ask because she is so hit or miss on things.