STOP YELLING AT HEARING IMPAIRED

Do you have a parent or grandparent who is hard of hearing? Or maybe you’re noticing that your grandchildren need to speak up. If so, you may feel frustrated. If there’s one thing that upsets people, it’s when you ask them to repeat themselves. Instead of turning up the volume slightly, the tendency is to over react. Please don’t do that. It isn’t necessary. Stop yelling at hearing impaired people.

Just because someone is hard of hearing, you needn't yell at them — Stop Yelling At Hearing Impaired. Just face them and speak clearly. Raise your voice slightly until you can see they understand.

My Dad wore hearing aids for twenty five years. That’s when my hearing was perfect. I can remember getting upset one time when he didn’t understand what I said. I did actually yell at him. It was concerning a legal matter, and I was in a bad mood to begin with. Luckily, my Dad wasn’t the type to hold a grudge, and he didn’t get mad at me. But later, I was mad at myself for not being more considerate.

One of the unfortunate side effects of longevity is hearing loss. 50% of those over eighty years of age experience some. Mine began in my late seventies, when I started having trouble hearing my grandchildren. My husband’s hearing is much worse than mine, perhaps because he grew up around noisy farm machinery. I think my hearing loss is probably genetic.

Both of us wear hearing aids without embarrassment. However, we’re in the minority. Only a third of people who need hearing aids actually wear them. Most insurance policies don’t cover them. And even if they can afford them, most old people feel that they would be stigmatized if people knew they wore hearing aids.

But even the best hearing aids aren’t 100% effective. They don’t work well in gymnasiums or in places with high traffic. One of the worst problems we experience is talking on the phone to customer service representatives. For whatever reason, many tech support people have foreign accents. Not only that, they speak rapidly. And they do not suffer fools gladly. If you ask them to repeat themselves, or to speak more slowly and distinctly, they may become irritable and impatient. Often, they will simply hang up.

Friends and acquaintances are apt to be more tolerant when you explain you don’t hear well. But close relatives may find it hard to adjust to this new sign of aging. Why can’t you hear them like you used to? Maybe it scares them a little bit.

Here’s what to do if you are speaking to a hearing impaired person. Look at them directly, face to face, when you speak. Don’t turn your back or mumble. Don’t expect they’ll hear you if you’re in another room. All it takes is some common sense and a little patience. Make an effort to speak more clearly, and slightly louder until you’ve made sure they understand. Stop yelling at hearing impaired people. It’s condescending and demeaning. And there’s a good chance you’ll be in their same situation if you live long enough.

April 8, 2020April 8, 2020

WARNING: BAD HAIR DAYS AHEAD!

Back In the 70’s, there was a Clairol commercial for electric curlers. : Curlers in Your Hair? Shame on You. My daughter was in Junior High then. She and her friends loved that song. They made fun of “old” ladies who ran around with curlers in their hair. They also laughed at women with stiff , hair sprayed “beauty parlor hair.” Then, those young girls grew up and they too, depended on weekly trips to the local hair salon. Now, what will they do with all the beauty parlors closed because of coronavirus? Warning! Bad hair days ahead.

Many women my age have been having their hair “done” once a week for over 50 years. They must be avoiding mirrors now. Younger women know how to blow dry and style their own hair more frequently. Many wash their hair every single day. But even if you know how to style your own hair, it still needs cutting or trimming every few weeks. My short hairdo is beginning to look more like a shaggy dog. Frizzy, with split ends. Fortunately, I’m a swimmer, so I’m not dependent on a beautician to style my hair. But I’m afraid to cut it myself.

Then there’s hair color. If you pass the hair color racks at drug stores or grocers, you can see that most women have learned to color their own hair. But many don’t—especially the more affluent women who can afford to have their hair colored every few weeks to the tune of about $50 a visit. Famous women have it the worst. Morning talk show host, Kelly Ripa, is showing off her gray roots. I’m seeing lots of blond television reporters with dark roots.

Al cloche hat will get you thru bad hair days — Warning: Bad Hair Days Ahead. Order a cloche hat to camouflage bad hair days after the coronavirus quarantine ends.

I’m willing to bet that beauticians are going to be overwhelmed when the COViD-19 stay-at-home order ends, and the beauty salons are back in business. Meanwhile, what are women going to do with their bad hair? (Not to mention their manicures and pedicures). I guess they could go online and order a wig. Or maybe start wearing a turban. Hats may make a comeback. Remember the cloche? We may be seeing a lot of them in those first few weeks after the pandemic ends and women are out and about again.

Whatever you do, it’s a good idea to have a back-up plan. Warning! Bad Hair Days are Ahead.

April 6, 2020April 12, 2020

STAY AT HOME DIARY: WEEK 4

Are you worried about your children missing a couple months of school? This week, I downloaded a great Kindle book, “Educated.” The memoir seems very timely now, with all the school closings due to COVID-19. Author Tara Westover never attended elementary school or high school. She wasn’t even home schooled. And yet, she graduated from Brigham Young University, and received a Ph.D from Trinity College in Cambridge, U.K. Her older brother taught her to read, but she had to teach herself algebra before she could get into college.

On Wednesday, I weeded the flower beds. And tomorrow, if it doesn’t rain, I’m going to transplant some Hosta. It’s great to be out in the fresh air, and digging in the dirt. .

My husband has agreed to let me trim his beard. I’m letting my own short hair grow longer. I may come out of this with a new hair style.

It’s strange watching TV reporters social distancing and reporting from home. They look so pale and their features appear distorted without the fancy make up and good lighting. I bet they hate seeing themselves on TV. Some of their home environments don’t look very snazzy. Plain white venetian blinds? A microwave on top of your frig? If it were me, I think I’d rig up a nicer background. Some pretty curtains, maybe. A plant or two? Anything but venetian blinds or a microwave oven.

Finally, got out some old cookbooks, looking for recipes that don’t call for canned soup (Stores are completely out). Made Chicken Tetrazzini using white sauce as a base. My husband doesn’t like mushrooms, so I substituted green peppers. It was so good! Also, I didn’t add salt. You can add salt and pepper to taste.

Now is the time to fix comfort foods like turkey tetrazinni — Stay At Home Diary: Week 4. Made Chicken Tetrazzini without canned soup

CHICKEN TETRAZZINI

1 pound thin spaghetti

½ cup butter or margarine

½ cup flour

3 cups milk

2 cups chicken broth

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

2 cans (4 oz.) mushrooms, drained ( or a diced green pepper)

2 or 3 cups diced chicken (or turkey)

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

Reheat oven to 350 degrees . Lightly grease a baking dish.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti, and cook for 10 minutes. Drain, and place in baking dish.

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, making a smooth paste. Mix in chicken broth and milk. Cook and stir until mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Mix sauce with spaghetti, cheddar cheese, chicken, and mushrooms or peppers.. Top with parmesan cheese. Bake about 30 minutes in preheated oven until temperature reaches 160 degrees or until surface is lightly browned,

It’s easy to cut the recipe in half if you’re cooking for two. Or, you can freeze the leftovers to enjoy when everything gets back to normal. I hope that day is coming soon!

April 3, 2020April 5, 2020

OUR NEWSPAPER HAD A GREAT FALL

“Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall/ Humpty Dumpty had a great fall/All the kings horses and all the kings men/Couldn’t put Humpty back together again.” Once upon a time, newspapers had great power. They could sway elections and make or break someone’s career overnight. That was when small town newspapers published all sorts of personal information. If Sears Roebuck took you to court over a $400 unpaid bill, they printed it in the paper. Divorces were announced on the inside page. You were at their mercy. Any misstep was fair game. But suddenly, that’s over. Like Humpty Dumpty, our local newspaper has had a great fall.

Back in 1912, they built a four story building on Main Street. If you walked in the back door to meet with a reporter or editor, you could hear the printing presses thrumming. Everything was there—immediacy, excitement, urgency, and most importantly, power. Being the publisher or editor on the top floor epitomized prestige and social standing. It was still that way a scant 14 years ago, when our local paper built a new, two and a half million dollar building near their old offices.

Newspapers have lost circulation and have had a great fall — Like Humpty Dumpty, our newspaper had a great fall

But then everything went downhill. The best reporters were let go, or left. Quantity, not quality, became the norm. Hard news, defined as news or investigative journalism that deals with serious topics and events, requires more journalists. Soft news is defined as information that is primarily entertaining or personally useful. It’s easier to produce and can be done at a leisurely pace. It also fills more space and is far less interesting. If you want soft news, you can read a magazine. And yet, the newspaper’s front pages began featuring more and more“soft news.”

Consequently, circulation dropped, and the newspaper’s advertising revenues began to dwindle. At the same time, Television and the internet have replaced many of the newspaper’s functions. Younger generations no longer subscribe to newspapers. And so, the big expensive building was no longer sustainable. This year, the entire newspaper staff moved their offices to the basement of a neighborhood mall that’s struggling for occupancy. Today, they announced the paper will only be published five days a week, rather than seven.

Newspapers have lost the ability to influence public opinion. No one cares who they endorse for office or what they think about plans for a new jail. Yes, Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. And no one can put Humpty back together again.

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