Deafficiency – is being deaf a waste of time?
Jan 08, 2009 | Tags: Being Deaf Rocks, Daily, deafness
My brain earlier today: “I wonder how many minutes in life I waste just because I am deaf.”
This new, random thought caught me off guard. Could it be possible that all this time, my life has been inefficient and a waste of valuable minutes because of my deafness? All my life, I have had the same thoughts that come and go, like these:
I could be making dinner faster if I could just use my ears to hear what is being said while I cook.
I could be writing notes in class efficiently rather than staring at an interpreter because I’m afraid I’ll miss something that will be on a test.
I could be reading a good book instead of looking up lyrics and trying to hear/learn how the lyrics go in a song I fall in love with.
I could be learning so much more at work if I could overhear discussions about projects and so on.
I could be finishing my work faster at the computer if I could talk to my co-workers across the room rather than having to walk over and lipread.
I could lay in the complete darkness enjoying intimate conversations rather than having to turn on some kind of low light.
I could be more in tune with current events if I could hear the radio or overhear people talking on the train.
I could laugh along with everyone at work, if I could just hear what they are laughing about.
I could have my hamburger ready if I could just pop out the cell phone and call the burger joint ahead of time.
I could watch all the videos on the internet with 100% understanding if I could hear because they don’t have freaking captions.
I could go on and on, but you get the drift.
But now, 29 years later, I have this BRAND NEW thought about minutes being wasted as a deaf person. People talk about how much time we waste sleeping away our life, how much time we waste on a computer, and such.
I started to calculate the minutes. About 5 minutes per dinner, 365 days a year, times how many years I’ve started cooking. About 2 hours a day at work, times 260 days a year (excluding weekends). About 2 minutes per text or email message rather than using the phone, times holy shit, forget it. This math will never be accurate!
After doing silly calculations, my brain thought, “But you have the magic of even having a mode of communication! If it wasn’t for sign language, cued speech, or ability to write/read/lipread. you wouldn’t have communication at all!” Then, “Saz, you’re not at your accounting job at the moment! What are you calculating for?” So true, my mushy brain. So true. Sure I lose many minutes or take longer to do stuff, but things could be worse. Much worse.
So, how many minutes do I waste in my lifetime being deaf? None. Having the ability to communicate at all is a blessing. And, I’m lucky to even be able to talk and hear pretty good to the point where some people forget or don’t believe that I’m deaf. Being ALIVE is even a bigger blessing.
