Different Accents

Okay, I recently posted about my hearing problem here. Here’s a nice anecdote about it which has happened to me in the office recently.

My colleagues are from various European and Australasian origin. Therefore, their accents are either too soft or hard for my sensible hearing.

I cannot help but laugh at myself because I really have to strain listening while trying to understand them when my other colleague can actually comprehend. Either my hearing is bad or I am poor to pick up (which I doubt!) or their bloody accent is just too much to comprehend. Arggghhhh…

Don’t get me wrong now. I love hearing them speak with their unique accent but when they talk fast, I can barely make-out the sense of the words spoken. For example, someone would tell me “Total time limitations” and I would only hear either the first or last word but never in full. My colleagues are already telling me to listen up. BUT I AM LISTENING!!! Waaaahhhhhhh…. Is it time for me to wear a hearing aid?!?

Listen Up

I am a good listener and I do so with fervor. Unfortunately, I became partially deaf due to my daughter’s innocent act of love (she blew a horn on my right ear) for 3 years.

It was so difficult to hear people and make out where the sound was coming from. My sense of balance was out of sync. Even crossing the street had been a great challenge. I could not tell if the motorists were honking or not.

I was a regular out-patient in the E.E.N.T for my ear check-up. That experience was really painful and challenging. Imagine being a Travel Agent and dealing with clients every single day of your life with a partial hearing condition. Difficult. I was straining my ear so hard. I often had a headache afterwards. I endured all that.

My hearing is okay now. It is not as good as it was but I can hear and that is more important.

I am more appreciative of what I have because I know how it feels to be “limited.”