My Neighbor Elmer

       A few years ago I had an elderly neighbor , Elmer. Elmer was a great neighbor. He had it all...kind, humorous, generous, thoughtful, sympathetic, helpful.  In short he had many great qualities for being a good neighbor. I remember all these great qualities. 

     Now Elmer loved to listen to his radio. He liked talk shows and documentaries. He didn't watch TV until the evening. Did I say Elmer was elderly? Yes, and along with elderly comes a few deficiencies. As with many seniors, Elmer's hearing was deficient. Now this didn't bother Elmer one bit. His radio had a volume knob and he used it. So over the years the radio and TV got louder and louder. It was okay in the winter, but in the summer when windows were open and I was outside it was a bit much. Now I didn't have the heart to tell him to turn down the volume. I would tell a teenager to can the volume in a hurry. But teenagers would have the volume turned much higher.

     Okay, Elmer was a fictitious neighbor, but I think many of you have an Elmer beside you and it's unpleasant.

     The next guy is real. The next guy is me. I only listen to radio. I like news,documentaries and talk shows. Oh yeah , and music too.

     I am now elderly. My hearing is somewhat impaired. And so my radio is turned up too loud. Neighbors can hear my radio when they're outside.  The micro manager is driven to distraction by the volume on my radio.

     So here I am. I'm just like a person I have complained about.

      How many of you have a neighbor who turns the volume up too high? What do you do about it? 

     So aging not only brings about problems for the elderly person but those around them. This is only one instance. There are many more.

    I will try to consider others with my radio volume.