“A good marriage would be that of a blind woman with a deaf husband.” Michel de Montaigne
According to the National Health Institute, “Approximately one in three people in the United States between the ages of 65 and 74 has hearing loss, and nearly half of those older than 75 have difficulty hearing.”
I am alas, no exception to this state of affairs. My hearing, which used to be perfect (I could hear a mouse break wind) has lost some of its luster, and I sometimes struggle to grasp what is being said around me.
Hearing loss, like all deteriorating bodily functions, slowly manifest itself. You are not aware of it until somebody (usually your wife) starts making snide remarks about it. Then comes a time when you earnestly have to start looking for a solution.
There are plenty of hearing aids on the market but they have 2 main shortcomings: they are imperfect and they are obscenely expensive. They can cost between $1500.00 and $6000.00 a pair.
How could such tiny devices (smaller than my pinky fingers) be more expensive than the latest 75” television set? It is more than ridiculous, it is indecent.
I think that the answer is relatively simple. You can get by without a television set, but it is much more difficult to manage without being able to hear.
The merchants know that and they abuse their (unregulated) monopoly. Hearing aids, like any medical implements, ought to be affordable and covered by medical insurance. But (hello Big Pharma) they are not.
None are so deaf as those who can hear!
Viagra is covered by most Medicare and insurance plans; why couldn’t hearing aids be covered as well? It looks like our legislators have more appetite for sex than listening to their constituents.
But having a hearing impairment has some advantages. It allows you to use “selective hearing”. You have the option to hear or not to hear whatever is being said around you.
Although deaf and dumb, I totally agree with your ideas! Raymond Devos
You can also turn a deaf ear to your wife grumbling when she is on a “search and destroy” cleaning rampage.
Can you repeat what you just said dear?
Alain