You hear horror stories from people who have had flights canceled, missed flights, and unbelievable delays in traveling on planes. I figured since the day was bright, sunny, although hot, I would get to a conference on time. Ah, no.
A 5:30 PM flight which was supposed to take me to a conference, didn't. I won't name the airline, but I was still at the airport at 11:30 PM Wednesday night when we were told that the flight had been canceled. Some of my fellow travelers and I had banded together in an effort to get on an another airline. There were no available flights for the rest of the night. I had someone call my hotel and tell them to hold the room for me. We also left a message for the desk to tell my hotel roomie that I would be late getting to the conference and to please let her in the room.
Challenge Number One. I have an ancient text only Blackberry, which was useless in searching for other available flights. Others had laptops, i-pads and i-phones, smartphones, cell phones.
Challenge Number Two: Telling the airline staff that I was a person with a hearing disability who wouldn't be able to understand the public address system when flight announcements were necessary.
Challenge Number Three: Being a solo traveler with a hearing disability.
Challenge Number Four: Getting a message to my hotel roomie, who is also a person with a hearing disability.
I wound up getting to the conference the next evening and missing a whole day of the conference. My hotel roomie and I found each other on the escalator of the hotel and gave each other a big hug. She was equally glad to see me as I was to see her. I was just so glad to finally make to the conference.
I still had fun. It was good to get away for a few days. I made new friends, reunited with friends from the previous conference, and got to play tourist a bit.
Next year, the conference will be on the West Coast. I plan to make a vacation out of it and arrive at the beginning of the week! I also plan to fly a different airline and get a non-stop flight.
Lessons Learned.
Hearing bilaterally with cochlear implants is still a gift.
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Sound and my Comfort Zone
My office is a noisy place to work in. At 8:30 AM, a co-worker's phone rings.
I hear "fleedle," "fleedle," "fleedle," until the voice mail comes on, and the phone stops ringing. A bit later, my co-worker enters the office. I know who it is because even that early in the morning, she is loudly chewing and snapping gum. The door squeaks as she enters. We say hello to each other, and she goes into her office.
My co-worker always has her phone on speaker phone. I hear her using the phone - "bip, boop, bip, boop boop," and the phone begins ringing as she pushes the key pads on the phone. "Beeeeeee," "Beeeeee," "Beeeeee,"
"This is ------," she says. I don't understand the conversation, but I am aware of her talking. She is loud. I think the loudness distorts her voice, so while I am aware of her talking, I don't understand the conversation. All day long, I hear her snap gum even though a wall separates us. My hearing is THAT acute.
I hear the wheels of the mail cart and the mail clerk outside. The door squeaks again as she opens it and puts the mail inside the mail box for us, and picks up mail from the outbox.
All day long I hear environmental noise, either people in the corridor talking as they are walking to and from offices.
I wish my co-worker would stop snapping her gum as she chews. I wish she would not keep the phone on speaker phone every time she has a conversation. I not only hear her but I hear the other party speaking as well.
This goes on for eight hours every work day. How do you tune out a co-worker snapping gum? How do you tune out the conversations and noise in order to get work done?
How do you get past the distractions of noise?
It is going to take time. Maybe in a year the noises in the office won't be so distracting.
Is this what hearing people go through when they work in a noisy office?
Still, hearing with two cochlear implants is a gift.
I hear "fleedle," "fleedle," "fleedle," until the voice mail comes on, and the phone stops ringing. A bit later, my co-worker enters the office. I know who it is because even that early in the morning, she is loudly chewing and snapping gum. The door squeaks as she enters. We say hello to each other, and she goes into her office.
My co-worker always has her phone on speaker phone. I hear her using the phone - "bip, boop, bip, boop boop," and the phone begins ringing as she pushes the key pads on the phone. "Beeeeeee," "Beeeeee," "Beeeeee,"
"This is ------," she says. I don't understand the conversation, but I am aware of her talking. She is loud. I think the loudness distorts her voice, so while I am aware of her talking, I don't understand the conversation. All day long, I hear her snap gum even though a wall separates us. My hearing is THAT acute.
I hear the wheels of the mail cart and the mail clerk outside. The door squeaks again as she opens it and puts the mail inside the mail box for us, and picks up mail from the outbox.
All day long I hear environmental noise, either people in the corridor talking as they are walking to and from offices.
I wish my co-worker would stop snapping her gum as she chews. I wish she would not keep the phone on speaker phone every time she has a conversation. I not only hear her but I hear the other party speaking as well.
This goes on for eight hours every work day. How do you tune out a co-worker snapping gum? How do you tune out the conversations and noise in order to get work done?
How do you get past the distractions of noise?
It is going to take time. Maybe in a year the noises in the office won't be so distracting.
Is this what hearing people go through when they work in a noisy office?
Still, hearing with two cochlear implants is a gift.
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