Have you ever found yourself in a sticky situation, where once you realized the stickiness of it, you stayed with it instead of trying to rectify the situation? No? That’s okay, I’m fine with being the honest one in this conversation!
Today I decided I was going to kill two birds with one stone; I was going to listen to my Sunday Service while running an errand. For all those who are judging me and my multitasking skills especially where church is involved, listen- it is what it is when you’re a busy gal! As a hearing aid user, I listen to content on my phone via Bluetooth technology by using my Phonak Compilot as an intermediary. It’s an awesome way to continue to have the amplification I need while listening to music or podcasts privately. Notice I didn’t use the word access here…
The reason being- when I am streaming via Bluetooth to my hearing aids, I am actually cut off from the sounds of the world in their entirety. I can hear the stream amazingly well- but basically nothing around me. And, while I’ve been doing this for years, it really only hit me today how DANGEROUS this can be! I was in the changing room at trying on clothes when it suddenly dawned on me that if there were to be an emergency or evacuation of sorts, I wouldn’t know. Plus, the store clerks (more specifically the person working at the changing room) wouldn’t know that I couldn’t hear because as I said in a previous post- disclosure shouldn’t be necessary for admission to a store or gas station! And, based on how I started off the story, you can gather what I did next…
Yep! Kept on with what I was doing!
Did I handle the situation well? No need to shout your answers- its a rhetorical question. There are definite things I could have done differently. I must also say that if I had it to do again, I might actually do things just as I did the first time. You may be thinking that this isn’t such good advice… but that’s where you’re mistaken. I’m not here to give advice- I’m here to share, provoke thoughtful debate and discussion, challenge your thinking and broaden perspectives.
Self-advocacy is a journey. It’s not a destination. Sometimes you’ll feel emboldened, other times like a timid mouse. In everything we do there are choices and consequences. Today I made a calculated choice. I wanted to have my cake and eat it too, and I did so fully knowing there might be a consequence to bear. Again, did I make the right choice? I’m not entirely sure…but overthinking could have made everything 10X worse because guess what… I made it out okay, heard all of my Sunday Service AND nabbed a cool pair of jeans without having to draw unnecessary attention to myself or my hearing loss/accessibility needs! I don’t know about you but I’m calling it a WIN!
P.S. For all you noise-cancelling headphone users out there…this is food for thought! As a person with a hearing loss, I am hyper aware of my surroundings because I’ve learned to compensate with my eyes. Are you hyper aware? Can you hear the cars on the road as you cross the street or if someone is speaking next to you? You, too, may need to assess the stickiness of the sticky situation you’re in when listening to music or podcasts. Ironic, huh?
Leave a Reply