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Sun 21 Sep, 2003 11:01 am
Perhaps you people can help me decide "What Is Fair".
Mr. Noddy is a television watcher. Since he is deaf, he listens with headphones. This is very convenient for me since I'm a reader and we can spend the evenings companionably in the same room.
The problem comes when the telephone rings. When the call is for me, I can talk because Mr. Noddy is insulated from the conversation by his headphones.
When the call is for him, he insists in removing his headphones and talking at length in the living room. Because of his deafness he tends to shout his half of the conversation. This makes reading difficult.
I think since he should pick up the oh-so-portable phone and move to another room. He thinks I should take my book to another room.
What do you think?
I think since you were already in the room reading that he should be the one to take the phone to another room. That's what we do.
I have a colleague who is hearing impaired (due to military service). He has special phones that allow him to hear and talk without shouting. You might want to try getting you husband one of these.
Yeah, there is lots and lots and lots of gadgetry available. The latest (I love this) is basically phone captioning -- you talk on the phone as usual, and there is also an electronic TEXT display of what is being said.
Gadgetry aside (and I can get you more on this), I think in the situation given, he should take the phone elsewhere.
You have three options. Option 1: He moves to another room. Option 2: You move to another room. Option 3: He stops watching t.v. in the 'same' room, and you quit reading.
Montana, Sozobe--
Thanks for the support.
Acquiunk--
I spent 15 years arguing Mr. Noddy into a hearing aid. Convincing him of new technology.....I'm weary.
C.I.--
The actual choices are:
Pick up my book and decamp with radiant serenity.
Argue fruitlessly.
You could always get the sudden urge to sing...
Craven--
Running the vacuum cleaner would be more insidious, but the chances of me putting down a good book to run the vaccum cleaner are not worth calculating.
True, when I wanted to annoy dan-e while he was on the phone I'd be VERY quiet and simply make a loud farting noise.
He'd turn beet red and insist it was someone else, at which point I'd refuse to make a peep.
Throw the book at his head!
No, seriously though, have you thought that when the phone rings for you, he may feel you are being distracting to him even though he cannot hear you! He may be able to see your movements from the corner of his eye, wondering who you are talking to and what you are saying. I agree it is different when he chats on the phone - it is definitely more disturbing to you.
The only solution is to take the phone out of the room you both watch TV/read in thus forcing the person who goes to answer and speak on the phone to do so in another room - like the kitchen.
Heeven--
Since he can't hear the telephone bell with the headphones on, he's rigged up a light to flash on top of the television screen. Often he doesn't notice this teeny-tiny lighthouse going Blink-Blink-Blink.
I'm the one who gets up to answer the phone and believe me, I've toyed with the idea of saying, "Just a minute, I'll get him," and putting the phone on the kitchen table.
The computer is in another room and when the one-sided dialogue drives me to Take Steps, I can flee to the computer and A2K.
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