Furniture Delivery

Last week was another difficult "hearing" moment for me. We ordered new furniture in February and left specific instructions for the delivery persons to call me at work to give me plenty of time to get home to let them in the house. They called when they were an hour away. I was home in plenty of time but waited for another 45 minutes. I heard the phone ring and saw the delivery company's name on the caller id. I knew I needed to answer the phone to let them know that I was home waiting for them. But I didn't want to because I knew it would be hard to understand a stranger's voice. I picked up the phone and pressed the speaker phone button. I was able to hear them well enough to understand them calling my name but the rest of the conversation was noise to me. I kept telling them that I was Mrs. Pullins and that I was at home waiting for them. They kept hanging up on me. They called back several times. Each time I grew increasingly frustrated because I couldn't understand their message. After I hung up, I texted Brad, Marissa, and Steve from my cell phone hoping they would respond to me right away. Nothing. I called Jason (using my cell phone on the highest volume control setting) in Alabama (yes, I can hear his voice) hoping he would answer. He did! I heard him say, "Hi Mommy!" I asked him if he was busy and heard him say "No." I then told him that the furniture delivery guys were trying to call the house and didn't know what they wanted. I gave Jason their phone number and asked him to call them for me. About 10 minutes later they showed up! The guy who came to the door apologized for getting me upset but said that they had gotten lost and didn't want to worry me. They said they were able to get directions from Jason. It didn't take them long to bring our new furniture in the house but I couldn't help but feel a little frustrated.

Talking on the phone has always been very difficult for me. I have spent many years struggling with the phone and dread it when I hear the phone ring and no one is around to answer it. People have hung up on me so many times because they did not always understand that I was hearing impaired and needed a little extra time to figure out who was calling and why. I can remember crying years ago when the Culligan man hung up on me! When I was younger, I used to be able to talk on the phone a little bit, especially with my mother and close family members. Maybe it was because their voices were so familiar. I can remember losing that ability in my early 20's when we moved from Connecticut to Wisconsin. I started using a cell phone two years ago for text messaging and my family and friends LOVE being able to talk to me whenever they need to instead of through a relay service or third person! I love it, too!