"Can you hear me, now?"

Off the top of my head, I can think of three co-workers I've had whose hearing-impairment denials lead to misunderstandings.

Maybe I'm not being sensitive enough, but it just seems, to me, that people ought to just say, "I'm sorry, but I didn't hear shit you just said," instead of acting like they heard and understood every word. Eventually, they end up leaving people with the impression that they deliberately ignored their co-workers' orders, information, requests, etc.

One of those three people has yet to admit that she suffers from hearing loss, but I really think it's part of the reason she comes across as such an asshole. She's loud as HELL. Now, I've been around loud people before; I come from a whole family full of'em. I even work with other loud folks. I don't think all of THEM are hearing-impaired, but I do think this particular co-worker is. Not only is she ridiculously loud (so much so that she almost always sounds like she's yelling) but she's quick to interrupt you as if you WEREN'T right in the middle of making a point.

Simply put, the cost of denying hearing loss is the loss of one's good reputation. I hope more people decide to either do something about their hearing loss, prevent it in the first place, or admit it once it becomes a reality.

It'd make life easier on the rest of us (and I haven't even mentioned family and friends, yet).