My first interaction at Target was with my neighbor who was walking several feet behind me and apparently calling my name. It was not until her daughter ran up to me and tapped me that she caught my attention. Although I did not mention to her I was wearing earplugs, she could tell I was having difficulty hearing her throughout our conversation but continued to talk to me. Unable to hear my neighbor was difficult throughout our ten minute long conversation that was happening in the middle of Target. Not only is it noisy place with a lot of background noise it was challenging trying to focus on our conversation. I found myself closer to my neighbor than I normally would be and attempting to rely on her lips throughout the entire conversation, particularly when it was noisy at certain times during our conversation. At times, I felt frustration because of missing a word or even a sentence of what she said and then having to play catch-up with where we were at in our conversation. Even though, I felt a little annoyed with inability to hear properly, my neighbor never got frustrated with me, which allowed me to feel more comfortable during the conversation. After Target, I went to the library to study for a few hours. Although, I only had one interaction at the library I thought it was notable to share. As I was sitting at a computer focusing, I was approached by a man who was asked me if I could watch his belongings. It only took me once to realize what his was asking of me. I believe that because the library is a quiet place it was one of the easiest listening situations for me during my twelve hour experience with a hearing loss. Once I completed my work at the library I returned home to get ready for dinner with my family, we had made plans to go to Carrabba’s Italian Grill. While getting ready, my mother and sister were attempting to talk to me while I had my bedroom door closed. Normally, I would be able to hear them perfectly but having earplugs in it was very hard to hear them. My sister had to knock on my door making me realize that she had been talking to me. Something as simple as getting ready for dinner was difficult, especially when there was a miscommunication about the time …show more content…
It was a great to be familiar and get a sense of how it is living with a hearing loss every day. Throughout my day, I struggled with hearing people and being involved in conversations. Leading to frustration and sadness at times when I had to ask “what?” or “excuse me?” which was often. Although, there were times during my experience when my day seemed like another typical day, the difficult times of my day definitely outweighed the good experiences. Overall, the hearing loss stimulation helped me understand what people with a hearing loss goes through every day, the stress of having to be in social situations and the frustration that may come from being there. My grandmother has a hearing loss and I now understand why I have to repeat myself at family outings and why sometimes she is disengaged at loud restaurants. It was a wonderful experience to have as I begin a career in