Of course being totally deaf as I am means that I can no longer hear the noises around me. Sometimes that is a good thing. I no longer hear the screaming kid at the table next to me in a restaurant. I am somewhat oblivious to the constant chatter of people on cell phones always around me. The last five years of my corporate life was living in a cubicle. Most people complained about them as you can hear conversations, coughs and other things from several cubicles around you. I was one of the few who really liked my cubicle.

But there are times when not hearing things can become a danger. The most obvious to me is going to get the mail daily. I have to consciously make sure that I stop and look both ways before I cross the street to the mail box. If I forget I could end up walking into the path of a automobile! Another one was that when I was running my cabinet/furniture shop for six years I became somewhat oblivious to the noises that the various power tools made and therefore seemed to fear them less. That is not a good thing. A number of times I put my fingers in danger because I did not realize that the equipment was running!

So, even though being deaf has its advantages in the noisy world it also presents dangers that I have to be constantly aware of.

And the journey goes on.