Amateur audiology

(Note: looking at the time of these posts, you'd think I sit down and crank out 10. I actually start them on my phone all through the day, and save them as drafts. Then I sit down at the computer, read for coherency, and publish them all at once.)

So I've talked extensively about how people want to talk to you when you are out touring on a big bike. Restaurants and gas stations can turn into 20 minute conversations you have to fight your way out of. Throw in the fact that not many people get to see BMWs often, and they are even more chatty about these strange non-Harley things.

Sometimes when I don't feel like talking, I'll leave my helmet on to pump gas. It sends an anti-social signal that often works. Of course this means no bathroom break or stretching. But sometimes you just aren't up for the chat.

Well the other day, I was in such a mood, but needed to take my helmet off to send an email and get some water. Sure enough some guy comes over and starts talking about wearing earplugs. Random guy, not a rider. Just a concerned citizen.

He starts on about bike noise, until I point out that my bike is really quiet. Then it's wind noise. So I point out that I wear isolating earphones when I ride, which block out as much as an average set of earplugs. So then it's listening to earphones in general being bad (completely ignoring the obvious safety issue of music while riding that is much harder for me to argue against).

I'm politely trying to work my way out of this whole thing when he makes the mistake of telling me that the big problem is that I'm going to damage my acute hearing, if it isn't already shot.
Those of you who know me well know my ear thing. I was born mostly deaf (70%). By the time they figured it out, there was nothing left to do but surgery. Tubes in my ears. Surgery to other stuff in there I don't even remember what all they did. I was maybe 3 or 4. A year of stuffing cotton balls gooped with Vaseline into my ears to make sure no water could get in. A mess, all of it. (This explains why I've never liked people messing with my ears.)

Anyway, my eardrums were already as much scar tissue as anything else. I never had acute hearing. Throw on top of that 10 years of punk shows before discovering earplugs...the damage is done. My hearing does suck in many situations. The low volume music through isolating earphones are not doing me in.

Of course he now changes his tack to "preserving what you have left". On a more spirited day, I might have engaged him on this. Or even listened and accepted his advice. In fact, a week ago I was having a very similar conversation (voluntarily) in Brian's backyard with someone else. But remember, I'm not in the mood. So I put in my earphones, and put on my helmet and just ride away. And I never got my water, or sent my email.