Fortune Cookies

I love Chinese food.  I have a favorite Chinese restaurant that I love in my neighborhood.  I have even been able to replicate one of my favorite dishes there, General Tso's chicken.  Fortune cookies are given with the check.

While searching through my winter coat pocket, I found three wrapped fortune cookies.  I don't put much stock into fortune cookies, but they are always fun to read.

Here's fortune number one:

Hmmmm....I have had several people tell me, that in spite of my hearing loss, I am a good listener.

Fortune number two:

Also interesting.  I have two close friends and the rest are acquaintances.  It is hard for me to make new friends, but I guess now is the time!

Fortune number three: (yes, I opened up the third one....curiosity got the best of me!)

To those of you who are reading this, thank you.  Thank you for "listening" to me and thank you for being my online friend!

Games Kids Play...and Sometimes Adults

I was not social as a child.  I learned how to play by myself.  As a toddler, I was very much the explorer, opening every cupboard and drawer to discover what was hiding.  I never watched t.v. as I could not understand cartoons or even the Muppets on Sesame Street.  Who could lip read and understand what they were saying?  My favorite cartoon series was The Pink Panther ~ no dialogue and full of slapstick humor.  I would watch Mr. Rogers from time to time, but when it came to his puppet segment, I would tune out and find something else to do.

My first birthday party invitation came while I was in Kindergarten.  I distinctly remember one of the games.  It was where your character name was written on a piece of paper and taped to your back.  The party members would give you "clues" as to who your character was.

I didn't fully understand the "rules" and instead wandered from person to person during the game, as they animatedly gestured while giving clues and exclaiming when the child got the "right answer."  Fairly quickly, it became apparent that I was the ONLY one who had NOT guessed who my character was.

A small crowd of children gathered in front of me.  All at once, they began giving me clues at the same time.  A bewildered look came across my face.  I put my focus on the child directly in front of me.  This is what I understood the child to be saying:

"You live on Sesame Street."

"You're green."

"You're mean."

Mean?  Who is mean?  I was confused and didn't know how or what to answer.

The child raised his voice a little louder, enunciating each word,

"You live in a garbage can."

I finally said, "I don't know who it is."

Everybody threw their hands into the air and in unison said,

"You're OSCAR THE GROUCH!"

Two years ago, at a Christmas neighborhood party, the guests were given characters from television shows and movies.  My mind flashed back to my classmate's kindergarten birthday party....

I politely declined to participate and headed straight for the kitchen and asked how I could help with the food.

*Whew*

Dual Personality

Sometimes I feel like I have a dual personality.  Part of me is outgoing, talkative and social.  The other part of me is quiet, submissive, and introverted.

When I am in small group settings of six or less people, I can be friendly and feel accepted.  Especially if I am surrounded by people that I know.  Put me into a large gathering, and my personality changes.  I become a wallflower, an observer, or even shy.

My hearing loss is a large part of me and a part of my personality.  Recently, I attended a large banquet for my son, who was to receive an award as a high school senior.  It was held in a large, open ballroom located at a nearby university.

As I scanned the multitude of round tables, people and....more people.  It was huge.  People were talking with one another and the "noise" was echoing all around me.  We were led to our table, with name cards indicating where we would sit.

I immediately switched our name cards around to have my husband and son sit next to me on my right, which is the side I hear much better.  To my left, sat one of my son's teachers.  Introductions were quickly made with another set of parents and their son at the table with us.  Seven people at a round table isn't too bad, is it?

After delving into our salads, my husband quietly touched my arm.  I looked at him and then he pointed to the teacher on my left.  Apparently, she had tried to talk to me and I didn't respond.  I looked at her and she repeated herself.  I can't remember what she said, but I believe I answered her question.

I then explained to her that I have a hearing impairment and couldn't hear out of my left side.  I told her jokingly that if she said something and I didn't respond, I wasn't trying to ignore her.

I believe that was the last time she initiated any more conversation with me.  The other part of my personality emerged....the next two hours were spent looking at my food, eating, and trying to figure out who got what award and what everyone around the table was saying.  I would smile, nod, and pretend that I was part of the conversation.  There was just too much background noise to figure out what was being said.  Though the food was good, I was happy to have the event over with. 

The best part of the night?  My son was awarded the University of Utah Chemistry Student of the year and an Academic Award for his GPA.  This was one of the the moments that I am glad that I was a part of and did not miss.