POTW: What do you do when you repeatedly can't hear someone?

[Fluffy]

This cupcake won't tell me how its day is going no matter how much I raise my voice. I was going to assume it was deaf, but then I remembered it's just a cupcake.
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This very question was in a poll I saw online once. It made me chuckle, especially since I find myself saying "WHAAAT?" all the time no thanks to my hearing problems.

So how about you, Iwaku? If you can't hear someone because you got crud in your ears, some kinda condition, you're far away, or the person just sucks at speaking up: what do you do? If none of these options suit you, then choose "Something else" and explain to me what that something else may be. o__o The votes are unlimited, since some of us might do more than one thing in this situation.

I also invite funny stories, if anyone has any.

 

[ᴛᴏᴄᴋᴀ]

I usually go completely off topic until they wonder wtf I'm talking about and remake their point again. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.

 

[Protagonist]

I usually apologize for bad hearing. Repeat until I finally hear them.

 

[Gwazi Magnum]

Face-to-face I generally say "What?" and make it clear I can't heart them, may it be to other noises or them just being quiet.
If it's a voice chat I'll just tell them their Mic is quiet, since that's usually the case.

 

[Asmodeus]

Totally pretend that I heard them and say "Yeah." before laughing in a manly fashion.

Works 90% of the time; because small talk is stupid.

 

[Saito Hajime]

I basically shout "What?" except it's more like "Sorry?" or "Excuse me?"

I'm more used to being on the other end of a conversation like that since my mum's hard of hearing.

 

[Minibit]

Happens all the time:

Me: hi! What can I getcha today?
Customer: *mumble*
Me: sorry, didn't catch that
Customer: *mumble*
Me: chai latte?
Customer: *headshake and mumble*
Me: I'm sorry, there's a lot of white noise on my side (of the counter) and I can't quite hear you, could you say again?

Then if they still can't be heard I ring in my best guess :/

In a casual convo I say 'eh' or 'excuse me' or 'didn't catch that', but 'what?' Always sounds slightly rude to me :(

 

[LogicfromLogic]

I say 'What?' quite a bit.

 

[GhostJoker]

I usually just give them a "Dafuk you say?" look And say "Wat"

 

[Atlas Child]

I tell them to stop mumbling or yell 'What?'. Quiet often I'll also just smile, laugh, and shake my head in agreement. It's kinda funny sometimes since I have hearing damage and this is something that happens far more frequently than normal. The bit where I just shake my head, laugh and agree has led to some awkward shit.

 

[Nemopedia]

Depends on what the topic is of the conversation. If it is small talk I just raise an eyebrow, or smile them off with an awkward shrug. If it was something important, e.g, related to projects or such, then I will move closer with my head and apologise for not hearing.

Usually people have to ask me what I said , though. I don't exactly have a loud voice.

 

[Gonzo]

I voted for almost every one of the options.

It really depends on the person I'm talking to, what mood I'm in, and if I feel like repeatedly asking them to say whatever they were saying again.

I do sympathize with people when they do that, though, because I have had tendencies to do just that myself.

 

[redblood]

If I'm listening to music, then I just give them a funny look. Maybe I take off my headphones and say "what?" but that depends on if I know the person or not. I might just keep walking and pretend I didn't even notice them.

If I'm not listening to music and a person is saying something and I can't hear them, then I might say 'what' first, but if I can't hear them after that I am like "aha. Okay." -nods head and smiles awkwardly-

 

[Levusti]

So I do this a lot because I'm a dick and I don't really pay attention to someone's full sentence. Usually I say, "Sorry, I can't hear you still, because I [something self-depreciating]." Then I'll walk closer or, if I'm already intruding someone's personal space, I'll just lean my ear in and listen verrrry carefully.

BUT AT LEAST I'M NOT AS BAD AS MY COWORKER. She's partially deaf in an ear, so I try to speak louder to her, but sometimes I forget. She doesn't like to say "I couldn't hear you." So she'll answer your question to what she THOUGHT she heard.

This is an actual conversation I had once.

Lev: <Hey, did you draw blood from the patient in room 211?>

Lady: "Oh no, I don't like potato salad, but thank you."

Lev: <Oh, okay. How about the patient in room 211?"

Lady: "Oh yes, I do love tuna."

Lev: <...Me too. I'll check on this patient, 'kay?>

Like I TOTALLY understand if you have a hearing problem, it's no big deal and I won't tease you about it swear. But please say reasonable responses that are congruent to the question. If you don't hear, just say, "I can't hear you." =P

 

[Tempest]

Ah, I ended up checking almost all of these because it does depend on my mood and situation, but my most common response tends to be "I'm sorry, I missed that, could you say again?" until I get it or one of us grows frustrated and I wing it.

 

[Diana]

WHAT? twice before I just nod and smile awkwardly. With people I know anyway.


Out in the world I MIGHT say "I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" but I usually just nod and smile awkwardly and pray it wasn't important. T_____T

 

[Peter Feels]

I will either ask "What?" a few times or simply say "Repeat, please.", depending on who I am speaking with. If it continues to be a problem, I'll either try to guess or just walk up to them (if possible) and say I couldn't hear them and ask them to repeat themselves.

 

[Ms.Wrong]

im deaf... fuck selective hearing

 

[Rainjay]

I limit myself to asking "what?" like 3 times before I give up and just nod and laugh. I don't know if I just have terrible hearing or if people just really like to mumble around me but people will be talking to me, and it doesn't matter if they have a foreign accent or not, I just sometimes for the life of me can't understand what the heck they are trying to tell me. It's even more awkward at work or with a teacher or someone you're doing a project with. Ugh. Same thing with people you can understand but are so vague that you might as well have not understood them anyway.

 

[Kaddoc]

I developed tinnitus over the years from being around loud machinery and not wearing protection when down at the shooting range.

"What?" I gesture the ear. Still can't hear them.

"What?!" I start to shout and put my ear towards them.

"WHAT?!" The urge to throw something at them becomes overwhelming.

After the third time I just say fuck it. I cannot hear them unless they go out of their way to speak up or to come closer so I can hear them.

Everyone gets 3 whats and a "fuck it" as a rule.