I think I've stumbled upon a good restaurant concept that will ensure boomers come there in droves: DON'T PLAY THE FRIGGIN MUSIC SO LOUD!!!
Last night, Ralph and I went out to dinner with friends to a restaurant we hadn't been to before in East Cobb, just north of Atlanta. It's called The Paper Mill Grill. The food was delicious and the service was outstanding. And who doesn't love those cute little shot glasses of tiny desserts. It would have been a perfect evening except that we spent so much of it yelling across the table at one another.
I'm quite hard of hearing, as is one of our boomer dinner companions, but at least we both wear hearing aids. Still, we couldn't hear one another very well above the noise. I noticed several boomers around us leaning across tables to talk as well. Odds are, though, they were having a worse time hearing than we were because they refuse to wear hearing aids.
A new "All Ears" Hearing Survey by Energizer reveals that while a whopping 99 percent of boomers wear some kind of corrective eyewear at least for some tasks, only 11 percent wear a hearing aid to correct a hearing problem. And yet, 72 percent said they believe their hearing impairment negatively affects their relationships with their adult children.
One in three gave appearance, discomfort and the sense that hearing aids make them feel old as their excuse not to wear them.
This totally baffles me. Boomers have always been proud of the fact they have great relationships with their children, bragging that they're friends, they vacation together, they hang out, etc. And yet, vanity is keeping some from wearing a hearing aid. The survey asked boomers' adult children if their parents needed help with hearing and 44 percent said yes. Furthermore, almost half reported that a parent's lack of hearing affects their relationship with them.
So, what gives? Boomers are fine with wearing those stupid looking Bluetooth devices on their side of their head. Many think it's cool to walk around with ear buds stuck in their ears. Their vanity has driven some companies to offer hearing aids that actually look like bluetooth devices. Others even offer aids in fashionable colors.
Meanwhile, boomers flock to have our knees replaced, get nipped and tucked, change hair color and drive sports cars all in the name of looking younger. Do you suppose these same people really don't get it that saying, "Can you speak up?" or "I'm sorry. I didn't catch that" or "Excuse me?" is a clue that maybe it's time they wear an aid not for themselves, but for others?
May is Better Hearing and Speech Month. With family vacations coming up, and perhaps even with impending job interviews, perhaps now is the time for boomers to admit that a hearing impairment is no more an age giveaway than glasses are.
Like the Energizer bunny, hearing aids can help you keep going.... and going... and going. And best of all, for those times when you just get tired of listening, you can take them off for instant relief. So when the restaurant won't turn down the music, turn off the restaurant!
