Earshot

DH and I went to see a movie on Friday night. (Stardust, if you're interested; I loved it, he did not, more pop culture later this weekend on MySpace.) As we waited for the previews to start, we listened to the in-theater radio station, and I turned to him and said, "Should have brought the ear plugs from your work kit." He works in heavy industry and always has a pair or two in the car of dB reducing earplugs.

The radio station was so loud that I could feel more of my hearing deteriorating even before the opening credits even started. Then when the previews came on, it got louder, and when the movie FINALLY came on, nearly 15 minutes late (seriously, don't get me started) it got louder still.

O_o

My ears are still ringing.

I think about this usually only during summer concert season and then forget about it the rest of the year, but wow, do we live in a loud world. I have a significant hearing loss. I don't need any help in losing more hearing, thankyouverymuch. When I go to concerts, I wear earplugs. Decibel reducing earplugs. Yep, looks weird. Nope, don't care. I started doing it about 4 years ago, and guess what. Even with earplugs that reduce noise by as many as 30 decibels, you can still hear the music just fine.

And I'm not at all kidding about starting to wear them in movie theaters, either. Do they need to be blasting us out of our seats when showing movies? I mean, really. I would have still enjoyed the flick at half the volume.

I feel like the curmudgeonly aunt, complaining about the neighbor's loud bass, but truth is that I'm headed for hearing aids if I don't stem the hearing loss. I'm probably headed for hearing aids regardless, my mother wears them and her dad did too. But I'd like to avoid needing them before 55.

You'd think I'd quit using the iPod, or at least limit the volume on it, this being the case. Nope. Can't work out without my music, and don't want to listen to the conversations of people around me, so up, up, up goes the volume. And down, down, down goes my ability to hear. Good thing I already know a bunch of sign language.