What was that you said? Aging can play tricks on the ears
Some years ago my neighbors pulled into the driveway separating
our houses after a holiday weekend at their vacation cabin.
”
How was your vacation, Sal?
”
I greeted the father as he began unloading the car.
What was that you said? Aging can play tricks on the ears
Some years ago my neighbors pulled into the driveway separating our houses after a holiday weekend at their vacation cabin.
“How was your vacation, Sal?” I greeted the father as he began unloading the car.
“It was fine,” he said, “except for one thing. We had barely arrived when my Dad got to poking into the bushes around the cabin and a snake bit him in the face.”
“That’s terrible, ” I responded.” “It wasn’t too bad,” he said. “It happened to him before. His face swelled up for awhile but we treated it and it’s nearly normal now.”
The next day I asked him how his Dad was. He looked puzzled “My Dad? He’s fine. Why do you ask?”
“There aren’t any after effects from the snakebite?” He considered that for a moment and said, “It was my dog that got bit, not my Dad.”
Among the little afflictions that attend aging is the realization that one’s faculties are not what they were when one was young. One may belittle or even deny them but in most of us they make themselves evident.
It’s like the old story about the hard-of-hearing man whose wife finely prevailed upon him to get a hearing aid. Like most converts, he was highly laudatory about its advantages and recommended them to a friend similarly afflicted. “It cost $5,000 but it’s worth every penny.”
“What kind is it?” his friend asked. He looked at his watch and said, “It’s 2:45.”
Hearing is not the only sense affected when one reaches 42. It becomes difficult to remember your true age, and vision isn’t what it once was either; however, hearing seems to be the sense that deteriorates first.
My television set is programmed for closed captions and it has alleviated the situation although the words are often misspelled. One evening on the news I was puzzled by the information that “The suspect was allegedly taped stiffing propane” and soon after, “The teacher reported that farmer astuteness excelled in college.” I waited a few seconds to read that the suspect was taped sniffing cocaine, and that former A-students excelled in college.
I hope that I will face it with the same gallantry as a trio of elderly Midwestern women did
They had been friends since girlhood and it was their dream to visit San Francisco. One day they decided that if they were ever going to do so that they had better act soon.
They made the arrangements and upon arriving at their hotel went out on the town. Nothing represented San Francisco more to them than the cable cars so they took the first that came along.
As it was going down a hill, one lady said, “My, it’s windy, isn’t it?” The second said, “No, I believe it’s Thursday.” The third said, “So am I. Let’s get off and find a cocktail lounge.”
My Dad’s fine, it’s 2:45, and it seems to be getting a little windy but my ears are still up and listening.
