Have the vision to protect your hearing

 As the saying goes, growing old ain’t for sissies.

As a young man my eyesight was better than 20/20. I had great pride in my visual acuity. I could see things up close and far away with great detail. When I turned 39, I found it harder to see small detail up close. Over the years my vision got a little fuzzier whenever I tried to read or see things closer than my computer screen. Then the computer screen got fuzzy.

For the last 19 years I’ve been using readers to get by for my close-up vision. Earlier this year, however, I noticed everything getting a little out of focus. I went to the eye doctor and now I have a prescription pair of glasses. They are progressives, meaning there isn’t a sharp line separating distance vision from near vision.

I hate the things. I’m under instruction to keep wearing them so that I get used to them. That ain’t happening. I have a narrow spot where my distance vision is crisp and another one where my reading vision is nice and sharp. The spot in between and all around the edges is like looking through a fish bowl. Everything curves and distorts. My depth of field is almost nonexistent. I’m sure as I left the doctor’s office with them that I goose-stepped all the way to the car.

Too often I get frustrated, take them off and blindly plow forward without them. On or off, I have a difficult time seeing. That’s really tough for someone who prides himself as a professional photographer and a kid who had superior vision.

They say that when one of your five senses diminishes that the others become heightened. It certainly isn’t my hearing. When I was in my mid-teens, I permanently damaged my hearing through the use of shotguns and loud music. I have tinnitus, which is a continual ringing sound in my ears. The last time I experienced absolute silence was more than 40 years go. I have to protect my ears with earplugs any time I’m exposed to sound over 85 decibels. You’d be surprised at how often that is.

The natural aging process it taking its toll on what’s left of my hearing as well. I am forever asking my wife or whoever is next to me what was just said. Whenever I interview anyone for a story I record it so I can play it back later – multiple times – to make sure I heard correctly and that I get exact quotes.

When it comes to protecting your hearing, I have no problem getting on my soap box and stating my case. It hurts me to see people drilling their skulls with loud music through their ear buds. I hate going to churches where the music is amped up to unsafe levels. I’m bothered whenever I’m at a game, concert, or other place where loud noise is expected and seeing people without hearing protection.

I don’t want anyone to have to experience what I do 24/7. It’s so unnecessary. Unfortunately, most people won’t listen to me. I guess they have to experience for themselves what it’s like to have that ringing sound you often hear after a loud noise continue nonstop for the rest of their lives.

I couldn’t tell you if my senses of taste and smell have improved or not. Even if they have, they hardly make up for sight and sound. That leaves the sense of touch. Ever since we moved last summer, I have been doing a lot of hard, physical work. My body aches too much for me to know if I feel anything other than pain better than I did before my eyes and ears pooped out.

I know it sounds like I’m complaining, but I’m not. Considering that the average age of newspaper reader is my age and older, it’s more like I’m commiserating. We may be old, but we’re not sissies. Besides, I’d rather cope with the struggles of getting older than to deal with the alternative. As a friend reminded me over the weekend, “it’s better to be seen than viewed.”

P.S. I want to wish a very happy birthday to my father, Red Southern. I love you, Dad!