BAD NEWS…GOOD NEWS!

By Harvey Tobkes

It all started many years ago when I was drafted into the army and served for 2 years. With only 60 days remaining to fulfill my required duty, they transferred me to the 690th Field Artillery Battalion, firing 155mm Howitzers. I liked the sound reverberations of the big guns, and never covered or protected my ears. The result was called “nerve deafness” with a 55-decibel loss. A short while after I returned to civilian life, I noticed I couldn’t hear the phone ringing; I had great difficulty hearing in group conversations, and as a consequence I purchased hearing aids,(one of many), which I have bought over the past years.


Hearing problem

So, one day while at work, I decided to put the hearing aid in my shirt pocket, because I was going to enjoy a quiet lunch; I walked to a nearby restaurant. After lunch, I intended to reinstall but alas, no hearing aid was in the pocket, but there was a tiny hole in the pocket.

Very slowly and carefully I walked back to work and retraced my steps searching frantically for that little thiga-ma-bob. Ahhhh! There it was in the middle of the street. Deftly trying to avoid the whizzing Miami traffic, I bent down to scoop up the little bitty fragments of that precious hearing aid now in a zillion pieces; who knows how many cars had passed over it?

The hard part was calling my wife and trying to explain my carelessness, after all, that was an expensive little apparatus that got crushed.

Anita and HarveyWhen Anita answered the phone with a cheery, Hellooooo, it went like this:

Me – Honey, it’s me, I have bad news and good news.
Anita – “All right let’s hear it!
Me – The Bad News is… 100 cars rolled over my hearing aid.
Still Me – The Good News is…it wasn’t in my ear when it happened.

And the happy ending…I had comprehensive coverage on that hearing aid, so when I presented the proof of loss, (a zillion little fragments) to the insurance adjuster, she burst out laughing, and there and then, she issued a check to reimburse me.


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