Difficulties Of Hearing Impairment 2

 A few days ago, I went to an air-conditioned café. I ordered a cup of café latté. The waiter asked me whether I wanted it hot or cold. Although he repeated it a few times, I struggled with catching what he said. He looked at me impatiently as if I didn’t understand English.

Yes, we’re in Egypt and some people use some English words in their speech to show how cool and educated they are. Anyway, I wasn't wearing a hijab so at that moment, I pulled my hair behind my ears to show him my hearing aids and I clarified, saying, “I’m hard of hearing”. When I finally understood it, he told me I could get the cup on the other side of the counter. That time he spoke in Arabic but again, I couldn’t understand what he said until the guy on the other side showed me the cup.

A few minutes later, I met an Indian guy in the same café. In addition to air conditioners, many people were talking around in the place. However, I could understand most of what he said except for the names of the Indian parties and states he mentioned along his talk.

I wondered why I could understand the Indian guy while I couldn’t make sense of what the Egyptian waiter said. The Indian guy was talking a lot and he had an accent. Neither of those things were a big obstacle to understanding. Maybe it was because I was interested in what he was saying or maybe because he spoke clearly.

He was nice and compassionate. He told me he had a cold before that caused his ears to be blocked. He stopped talking to people during that time because it annoyed him not to be able to hear others. He was the first one ever I've met who touched on the social effects of hearing loss, withdrawal from socializing, avoiding talking to others and isolation. I said, “Now, you can feel what it's like for me”. He emphasized saying, “Yes, I do.”

Later on, we decided to go to Khan AlKhalili. I told him it was better to have him on my right where I hear better. Whenever he switched to my left, he came back again to the right side which was really nice of him. It was a gesture that showed he cared.

Now, I know that some people do care and I don’t have to fight to keep those who don’t care in my life. Yes, some people forget and I have to remind them once, twice or more but in the end, those who care will make some effort to accommodate my disability. Maybe my path will never cross with the Indian man again but I know there are others like him out there, others who care. I just have to keep searching.