I am one of
those loyal people who will stay your client/ customer/ patient for life. As an example, I’ve had the same accountant
for 30 years, even though we now live on different coasts. My dentist
will stay the same, barring he doesn’t pull out the wrong tooth.
Likewise for the doctor, as long as he doesn’t mix up my medications.
But last year,
I actually changed my hairdresser (gasp!). No, it wasn’t because of a bad
haircut (or 2 or 3)…even that might have been tolerable. The reason is one which we, as hearing
challenged people, live will all the time. He was incapable of communicating with me
clearly enough…a voice too soft and a tendency to mumble. It was demeaning and uncomfortable to keep
asking him to speak a bit louder.
Too often, I left the salon feeling
emotionally drained. I finally concluded
that a good haircut just wasn’t worth it…you might look good, but you want to
feel good as well!
RE: your two recent posts -- Another situation of soft speaking is in gatherings such as church groups and meetings. Compounding the problem is the "mumbler" - one who doesn't speak clearly although loudly enough. How does one address that issue without offending the person? In my church men's group there are both of these types and I often leave feeling I have lost at least half the conversation. Maybe other readers can comment.
ReplyDeleteB Furuta
I try to choose a seat that allows me to see the majority of people. If there is just one main speaker, I select a seat as close to him as possible. There is no easy way to solve it. I'll open this up in the next post.
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