Huh?

Yesterday's outing was a mani/pedi at the cheapo place in the hood. I didn't go with my usual indulgence at Sava because I know I will be getting another one next week with some friends. Why pay extra for quality when I will be indulging again before I need another round?

Anyway, because this is the cheapo place, it's not as quiet as my usual zen-like cappuccino-serving sanctuary. This is an air-conditioning unit above the door kind of place. The loudness induced one of those, "Oh, right. I'm kind of deaf" moments.

I used to find myself in a situation that I thought was common, but now that I understand I've been slightly hearing impaired for a while, I'm not so sure. You know when you ask someone to repeat themselves and you still don't understand? Typically I ask one more time. After that it's just embarrassing, so I act like I know what was said and offer some vague and non-committal gesture. I'm sure I've unwittingly put myself in some Seinfeldian puffy-shirt situations.

So here I am in the cheapo salon, and the pedicurist is saying something to me. But with all that ambient noise, damn if I could hear her. I saw the lips moving - but literally heard no sound. And she kept looking away during her sentence to check the (noisy) swirling water at the base of the pedi chair. Here was the problem. She was clearly asking me a question, and was awaiting an answer. No answer - no pedi. I asked her to repeat herself no less than five times. I kid you not. I kept moving my good ear closer and closer to her until she probably thought I was going to sit on her lap.

Aaaghh! I'm going to have to get better at this. I see a lip reading course in my future. In the meantime, don't be surprised if I'm wearing a pirate shirt the next time you see me.