Deafness.

I'm half deaf.

I was born normal but at the tender age of 3, I contracted mumps which promptly destroyed the trochlear nerve in my left ear, thus rendering any hope of me getting natural Dolby Digital Surround Sound via stereophonic hearing completely obsolete.

 

I was about 3 (or so my parents tell me) when I had this and it started out as me falling over quite a fair bit. On closer examination, it turned out that I had lost my hearing in my left ear, throwing off my balance and this would be a disability that I would have had to deal with for the rest of my life.

 

Not that it really mattered much, though. I still get thrown off balance fairly easily, I walk unconsciously slanting to my right and most of my friends accomodate that, and I've learnt compensatory skills that means that no one usually finds out that I'm half deaf unless I tell them.

 

The reason why we're probably discussing this at the moment (and yes, I know, random topic, right?) is because I've got one ear plug in my right good ear and I think I kind of understand what it would be like to be deaf. The world is quiet. People's mouths move and you try and read lips.

 

The good points? I'm at work and I won't have to deal with any crap noise-wise. And plus, we've got some renovations happening full scale at the moment so the peace and quiet is a big plus.

 

The bad points? I think I'd rather kill myself than being unable to dance because I can't hear the beat.

 

Rightyo. Back to work.