Caring for your body (late-night off-the-cuff rant)
Tonight I went to a gig that had typically ridiculously loud music, so I wore my $30 re-usable earplugs. That I ordered off the net. Makes one look a little like Shrek. They do a decent job. But what fucking astounds me is that it seemed like I was pretty much in the minority, when it came to ear protection.
Being ignorant of the fact that there are cheap devices to help protect ones hearing is an excuse of sorts, but when you see knobs like me wearing them, awareness is created. Ignorance lessens. Excuses decrease. And in case you don’t know - if you hear ringing in your ears after listening to loud sounds for a prolonged period? That’s not a good thing.
I’m sure there’s a bagillion pieces of info about safe listening levels and durations, but I’m typing this on my phone so let Google be your Santa’s Little Helper.
An audiologist told me this week that hearing issues start coming into effect when you reach forty, if you abuse your hearing in the mean time. I don’t know about you, but I’d sooner get a tattoo. At least when I reached forty years old, I could have it laser removed. Not so much with your hearing. Once it’s gone, it’s gone.
You wear a seat-belt when you drive. Perhaps they need campaigns about hearing safety. Do they sell ear plugs at gigs? If they don’t, they should!
I think the main thing that gets to me is that my friends’ hearing is being slowly chipped away. And I don’t like to see them being hurt, especially when there’s something easy they can do about it. Better to look “a little goofy” now, than have regrets later. (I’ll probably edit this when I read it later on and make it a little more cohearant and edit out the angry tone, caused by something unrelated. :)
UPDATE: Or not. :P
