Pandemic + Hearing Problem = Frustration

We’ve all learned there aren’t too many great things to be staid about a global pandemic. As a hearing impaired person, Covid-19 has made it more difficult for me to navigate the world.

It’s about the mask.

Full discloser, I believe in vaccines — and also, that the world is round. I am fully vaccinated and I’m not an anti-masker; I have worn masks in accordance with CDC recommendations since this started. Not just for me, but for everyone. (We’re a herd, people!)

When I found out that I wasn’t “a little hard of hearing,” but that I was damn near deaf (see “The Hearing Thing, Parts 1 & 2” for background,) three people expressed amazement at my skill for lip reading; my Ear, Nose and Throat doctor, my Audiologist and the Social Worker I was assigned (because handicapped people have social workers, that’s why.)

I don’t take compliments well, and I shrugged off their kind words, focusing instead on the many decades I blundered around without the ability to hear. But if 2020 taught me anything, it’s that I am one hell of a lip reader! It took everyone talking behind surgical masks for me to realize it.

To understand how poorly I hear, everyone talking sounds like the adults on the old Peanuts cartoons. “Mwwwaaa mwwaaaa mwawawa mwa,” is what everybody in the world sounds like. But I’m a champion lip reader; if I’m looking at you (and paying attention), I can understand what’s being said (or at least fake my way through it).

Facing someone in a mask is like looking at a brick wall; not only can I not tell what they’re saying, I can’t gauge their emotions as effectively — hell, I don’t even know if they’re talking to me, or we’re just engaged in a staring contest!

When I explain I’m hearing impaired and can’t understand them behind the mask, some of them make the mistake of getting louder. Which means I hear “Mwwwaaa mwwaaaa mwawawa mwa,” only at a higher volume. (Go ahead and laugh — it was meant to be funny.)

But in all seriousness, it makes me feel vulnerable and ill prepared to deal with people. Makes me feel stupid and ashamed when I must explain to them that I can’t understand.

So, add this to the list of not-great things about a global pandemic.