My next door neighbor appears to have gone somewhere for the weekend, and I’m in heaven! This evening I’ve been sorting papers, filing things, watching TV, cleaning my kitchen – all without the now familiar sounds of explosions, shooting or a simply annoying base from the stereo. It isn’t that he’s loud really. It’s that the walls seem to be made of paper and he has recently acquired a TV with what appears to be a great sound system (if you’re in his apartment). He’s also discovered video games. He’s got to be pushing 40, but he’s definitely over there playing video games. That is when he’s not listening to his country or jazz music. He’s sort of a guy that, while not truly loud, perpetually makes noise. When I was sick last Friday and trying to sort out my insurance company problems I could hear him on the phone. I heard both sides of the conversation because he makes all phone calls while talking on speaker phone.
It isn’t all his fault. I know that scientifically they’ve proven that blind or low vision people really don’t have better hearing than the rest of the world – they just use it more efficiently. Yet, sometimes I wonder if I’ve got some sort of super hearing going on because I hear things other people never seem to hear. And, sometimes, it drives me nuts!
At work I toil away in the cube farm, almost never without my earphones on. The reason is it’s better for my concentration to hear one noise really well than a bunch of noises competing with one another. And if I listen to the same CD over and over eventually I tune it out when I really need to focus. I’ve been listening to Bethany Dillon for several months now.
When the ear phones are removed, however, I hear every conversation going on around me. I hear conversations at the reception desk, even though several walls separate me from that area. I hear people’s conversations behind closed doors in their offices (often conversations I know I’m not supposed to know about.) I would prefer to not hear these things because it’s really hard to focus with so much input. While I know I’m not supposed to be listening, is just there – and sometimes it’s juicy and interesting.
As much as the guy next door annoys me, I never go and complain unless it’s after 11:00 pm on a weeknight, or midnight on the weekends. I’ve got to sleep! I know the other neighbors are irritated as well. None of them have the nerve to go knock on his door and address the issue directly. They just complain to the landlord, and the neighbor assumes the complaints are coming from me. I can hear them as well when they run into each other in the laundry room under my apartment. (The laundry room is a great place to learn things you’d rather not know about your neighbors!) This has soured relations over the wooden fence, but I have never once complained to the landlord.
But, I must say, things have been so relaxing today. I wonder if he’s taken a nice long trip somewhere? Am I horrible or what?
It isn’t all his fault. I know that scientifically they’ve proven that blind or low vision people really don’t have better hearing than the rest of the world – they just use it more efficiently. Yet, sometimes I wonder if I’ve got some sort of super hearing going on because I hear things other people never seem to hear. And, sometimes, it drives me nuts!
At work I toil away in the cube farm, almost never without my earphones on. The reason is it’s better for my concentration to hear one noise really well than a bunch of noises competing with one another. And if I listen to the same CD over and over eventually I tune it out when I really need to focus. I’ve been listening to Bethany Dillon for several months now.
When the ear phones are removed, however, I hear every conversation going on around me. I hear conversations at the reception desk, even though several walls separate me from that area. I hear people’s conversations behind closed doors in their offices (often conversations I know I’m not supposed to know about.) I would prefer to not hear these things because it’s really hard to focus with so much input. While I know I’m not supposed to be listening, is just there – and sometimes it’s juicy and interesting.
As much as the guy next door annoys me, I never go and complain unless it’s after 11:00 pm on a weeknight, or midnight on the weekends. I’ve got to sleep! I know the other neighbors are irritated as well. None of them have the nerve to go knock on his door and address the issue directly. They just complain to the landlord, and the neighbor assumes the complaints are coming from me. I can hear them as well when they run into each other in the laundry room under my apartment. (The laundry room is a great place to learn things you’d rather not know about your neighbors!) This has soured relations over the wooden fence, but I have never once complained to the landlord.
But, I must say, things have been so relaxing today. I wonder if he’s taken a nice long trip somewhere? Am I horrible or what?
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