Skip to content
HearingTracker
Log in

Hearing aids, Roger ON IN, but still lost in conversations

2 replies112 viewsLast reply

Link to this topic
Reply

I was looking forward to meeting my Sudanese colleagues in person after a year of collaborating with them online. We finally met yesterday in a painting workshop.

Music and songs were played in the background, but I told myself not to worry as I had my Roger ON IN. I thought I could follow conversations. However, my experience turned out quite disappointing. I lost track of most of what was said, and I gave up listening to others’ conversations. I ended up asking for repetition only when someone directed a question to me.

When we went out to have dinner in another place, I turned off the mic and then, I felt as if I had gone completely deaf. In the restaurant, I didn’t turn the mic on. I kept looking at them talking or checking my phone now and then.

The only highlight of my time in the restaurant was trying Agashe, a Sudanese wrap with peanuts which tasted delicious. :)))

I live in Luxor which is much quieter than Cairo (where I’m now). Also, I don’t meet people in cafes or noisy places there so I rarely experience such situations. Every time I come to Cairo, I’m confirmed that it’s not a place I can live in, and communicating with people outdoors is a kind of “impossible mission” that I try to avoid.

Do you have any similar experiences?

Play pass the mic? I’ve been there a few times. Wedding of a cousin, and close family around the table. Music and chatter in a ballroom with oppressive echo such that everyone is screaming and no one hears. They told me later they couldn’t hear either. Only thing I missed that others got was the mic announcements by the dj/mc. And they didn’t get everything he said, either.

We had a HS reunion in a gambling casino. My went into spherical mode as I walked through the doors. Probably 85-95 db in there. I focused on one-on-one conversations and made it clear I was hard of hearing. I did ok. My wife found a person to talk to, but the noise got to her eventually and we left. I think you need a strategy in such situations, limit your expectations and look for what can reasonably be acquired as far as communications.

Roger is great in one on one. Pass the mic works if people don’t freak out over it. (Who’s listening, really!?!?) I don’t find it much help in the table of 12 situations.

WH

We were painting so our hands were busy. I put the mic on the table and was hoping that would be “enough”.

Thanks for sharing your experience and tips! Indeed, I need a strategy and to limit my expectations in such situations (and maybe limit my stay in Cairo).

Related discussions