Title sounds a bit like a joke, doesn't it?
My parents and I recently went to a restaurant to enjoy a nice lunch together. We picked a place known for it's good food, good service and great atmosphere. No TVs lurking at every corner to blast us with the current news, weather, sports or other programming not of our choosing. No loud radio being played over the speakers for us to shout over. As a matter of fact, this restaurant is great because you can have conversation at normal conversation levels and actually hear one another. I for one like to have conversations at meals. I find distractions and noise make this difficult, if not impossible. This can be even more difficult for my parents as both of them wear hearing aids.
For those not familiar with the challenges of hearing aids, I will take a moment to explain hearing aids to the hearing world. Hearing aids are meant to amplify sound. In today's age of modern technology, many of these fantastic devices can be tweaked to amplify some pitches more than others. Some of them can be programmed to receive blue-tooth. They are analog and digital, simple and fancy. They come in many shapes, sizes and colors. Some go behind the ear, some go in the ear, some can be mounted on a post or magnet directly on the skull. But in the end, all of the hearing aid devices on the market are designed to do one thing - amplify sound.
Unfortunately, there can be drawbacks to this. For one, hearing aids don't distinguish where sound comes from. Although these little devices can be tweaked and modified, the average person wearing them cannot tell if a sound comes from the right, left, front or back. This is especially true if a person has hearing only on one side. Another downside is that often, all sound comes in at one level. Both the person talking and the background noise are pretty much amplified the same. This can make communication a bit difficult if in a noisy setting, crowded area or a busy restaurant. All right, this makes communication nearly impossible. Imagine the waitress asks you questions about your order, but you cannot make out what she said over the plates clanking, the latest breaking news about a train wreck somewhere and the kids in the next booth. You resort to pointing at the menu and trying to read her lips, hoping she doesn't get mad because you don't answer the question she is asking or that she has patience with you as you process your lip reading to figure out what she said. Thank God that there are many good wait staff out there!
Thus the atmosphere of a restaurant can be a big deal. Just as much as the food. Sometimes maybe more so.
So back to our restaurant where my folks and I are are laughing and talking and enjoying the good food that has just been brought to our table. In walks these two younger guys and they are seated at the booth right next to us. The place is really busy and there is not a table to spare. No sooner did they sit down when one of them pulls out his cell phone and turns on some sporting event. He cranks the volume all the way up and they both begin to talk loudly over this racket. After a few minutes, my mom asked if there was a radio playing. I nod. After several attempts I communicate that it is from a cell phone at the next table. I really had to be loud to make myself heard. I would have thought that they would have taken the hint. No such luck.
The waitress comes and takes their order over the noise of the game. My mom turns off her hearing aids. Unable to change tables, we have to sit there listening to some sporting event. We are all frustrated, except maybe my father, who can't hear the game or the guys, despite wearing his hearing aids. Maybe he did not have them on to begin with. Sometimes it is hard to tell. At any rate, we now eat to the noise of the game, and the guys, who even eat loudly.
Fortunately, they finish their meal before we do. Once they leave, mom turns her hearing aids back on and we can converse. But I have to work to shed my irritation. A large portion of my dining experience was spoiled. And why? Because two guys did not have enough manners at their disposal to know how to behave at a restaurant. If they wanted to enjoy the game, why not get their meals and take them to the park and listen to the game? There they would not be disturbing anyone else. Or how about stopping at the sports bar down the block for lunch? I am sure that the game was playing on some station somewhere....and they could have seen the game as well as listened. Heck, if I had wanted to see and hear a game during lunch, I would have picked the wings place down the block. But I did not want to watch (or hear) the game, so I picked this restaurant. I don't know if they were just clueless or too self centered to care about anyone else around them.
Now you may ask why did I not confront the young men? To be honest, I did think about it, but past experience has made me wary. Self centered individuals can be very volatile. On the other hand, young clueless people sometimes don't think and may just need to be reminded they are not alone. These type will politely apologize for their behavior and cease to be a disturbance. Volatile people react more aggressively. You never know which personality type you are dealing with. I did not come to the restaurant wanting confrontation, I came wanting to relax and enjoy a meal and conversation. Since the other diners did not seem too put out by their actions (they only got a few dirty looks from other tables), I would be alone in my confrontation. And I would be confronting two young men who are either very clueless or very self centered. Guess I was just not in the mood to risk it. Maybe I thought the waitress or the manager should have addressed the situation. Perhaps I really should have put on my batman costume.
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This might be good material for the TV show "What would you do?"
It sure makes for a lousy joke.
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