Blind or Deaf?
So for the past month or so now, I've been partially deaf in my right ear (only in the higher frequencies). The worst part, actually, is that since only one ear is effected, it's very hard to judge the direction a sound is coming from. This has got me thinking once again about that eternal question - would you rather be deaf or blind?
Deaf means means that if you want to communicate, you'll have to learn a foreign language or learn to read lips. It also means no more music (ack!), and difficulty with all sorts of things that other people take for granted (imagine crossing a street if you can't hear any oncoming vehicles).
Blind, however, means not seeing your family and friends. It means that you won't be able to detect body language when people are speaking to you. It means that every time you walk into a new room, you'd have to survey it and mentally map it out. It means that movies, photographs, and television would be a lot less fun. Worst of all, imagine trying to cross a street if you can't see the oncoming vehicles!
Anyway, despite my new familiarity with partial deafness (which is annoying, trust me), I still think that blindness would be worse. Anyone else have an opinion?
UPDATE: If my loyal readers (all three of you?) will permit me another Star Trek reference, Annie took the Kobayashi Maru route in answering this question. (Kobayashi Maru was a no-win scenario used to train Starfleet cadets in the fact that life sucks sometimes. Kirk beat the scenario by cheating.)
4 comments:
I'd have to agree that it would be worse to be blind. It would suck to not be able to hear music any more, but I think it would suck worse to never see anything again.
Hope they figure out and/or fix whatever it is that is wrong with you.
Did your wife tell you that you're meeting us at IKEA tomorrow? And that you're being asked about on Applebutter?
Wow, leave it to Annie to come up with the best answer. Neither! Why didn't I think of that?
Best answer?!? More like the cop-out answer!
Anyway, yes, I did know that we were seeing you guys tomorrow, though I wasn't informed of the details.
Well, you're right, of course. But like I told Annie yesterday, I just can't be mean to a pregnant woman. Give it a few months, we'll see if Annie gets annoying enough to make me break my rule ;-)
I basically mentioned tomorrow because I was afraid Annie would forget so I wanted some backup. Bring the tongs!
And all your Star Trek references are making me wanting to go back into one of my occational Star Trek phases. If only there wasn't so much other stuff to watch, I'd totally get it all from Blockbuster. Alas. Maybe I'll just try to mix in one disc every few weeks.
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