Why is it a secret?

Before anyone accuses me of not having a sense of humour – wronnnnggggg. Yeah, I know that’s the comment of someone without a sense of humour

I find most things in life funny and still crack up at the scene in Despicable Me 2 when the minions charge after the ice cream van. I’m not even overly sensitive about what I can find fun in, that includes the time by back seized up and I was stuck on all fours for an hour. Horace, my big, black, Persian hopped up on my back and cuddled up for a nap.

Yup, you’re right, there’s a but coming – what I was shown in a tabloid paper today (July 27) didn’t seem a subject for comment or amusement. A pic of actor, Christoph Waltz, appeared under the header “For Your Ears Only” along with a close up of his right ear showing what was termed “a hidden hearing aid”.

A paste up of the OO7 star and Waltz accompanied the (small) report along with three speech bubbles stating – ‘The name’s Bond’, (waltz’s reply) ‘Sorry what?’ and the final bubble, ‘James Bond’.

Never having watched a Bond movie I don’t know if this is the standard of humour, I do think it’s pretty poor. So what if an actor uses a hearing aid, does the press include reports of well known people wearing glasses? Could be argued that an actor wearing an aid will encourage others to get a hearing test. I feel that a report of a hidden aid will have an adverse affect by showing that hearing aids should be kept secret. Which is tough for people who can’t afford, or find an effective, ‘hidden hearing aid’.

I’m being militant when I say this – this enforces the oft stated comment, deafness is the hidden disability.

……………..

This has been written 24 hours after I wrote the previous blog. I haven’t calmed down, I’m even more annoyed. The ”aside comments” involving the words “sorry, what?” are offensive and discriminating in my view. If the actor had started to use a wheelchair would a similar ”’funny”’ aside have been put on the page, perhaps something like ‘you won’t be climbing a stepladder anymore’? Course not, that wouldn’t be allowed, but making light (or taking the ****, if you prefer) of hearing loss is considered amusing.

It’s not.

And dumb, so called, humour like that should have died out in the Seventies along with racist gags, anti-gay jokes and telling females to keep quiet when a co-worker or Boss touched them inappropriately.

That’s my viewpoint and nothing to do with Hearing Link. As you’ll know Hearing Link has put up three videos about the terrible effects hearing loss can have on people – depression and isolation for example and I’d like the (innocent of intending offence) staff at the newspaper involved in that story to see those videos. But then, my Sue is one of those featured on the videos and when she saw the piece in the paper she wasn’t as bothered as I’d have expected, I guess she’s become used to things like that. She did, however, say I’d get angry. How well she knows me.

I’m even more angry now because such a small matter, which wasn’t intended in any way to offend or hurt, can have a massively negative effect on someone who’s in a vulnerable state of mind.

I know silly comments wouldn’t be made about anyone who’s lost their sight (I daren’t even use the term blind for fear of causing offence) but, yet again, here’s an example of  how hearing loss is so little considered – let alone understood – until it’s personally experienced.