I told my troubles to my neighbor this evening. As we parted, I thanked him, fumbling around for a clever remark about how his ears worked well despite the hearing aids.
He nodded and said, “There’s a difference between hearing and listening.”
I wish I’d said that.
@cliffordbeshers I LOVE that. Thank you. (Also, I have hearing loss and wear hearing aids, so I have to work hard to both hear and listen.)
@annahavron Been wearing hearing aids for 6-8 months. Certainly beneficial, not the magic solution the sellers make them out to be.
@JMaxB for me, it was magical. My hearing loss is genetic, and I should have gotten these things thirty years ago. It was a strange bittersweet moment when I listened to a favorite symphony I thought my inner DJ had memorized; only to discover that there were whole elements I had missed completely. Hearing aids for me are the aural equivalent of going from a black and white cartoon world, to 3D color. It's remarkable what I can hear now. So many new sounds!!
@annahavron That sounds wonderful. My hearing really is much improved with the devices in. I was hoping, and was sort of promised, that they'd do some filtering so that I could listen to a conversation in a noisy environment, and that hasn't proven to be true. Still, I'm very glad to have them.