Unstoppable talkers, reluctant listeners

I received several phone calls days before my retirement. My friends and well-wishers apprised me of the dos and don’ts to be observed during one’s retired life. I was also told that I would become a ‘senior citizen’ and get some facilities and concessions, such as the privilege of standing in a separate, much shorter queue.

With plenty of time at my disposal, I had thought that youngsters would approach me with their problems and seek my advice, but that did not happen. They had access to several platforms where experts offered counsel. Some of my children and grandchildren approached me, listened to what I had to say, and left. I could see from their expressions that they disagreed with my opinions. They never returned to me with their issues, and I quietly got the message.

Not that I blame youngsters for maintaining distance. One reason is that many retirees suffer from amnesia and repeat to their unfortunate captive audience the stories they have narrated several times.

When I shifted to a housing society, I was happy that there were many people there who had worked with me. With so many things in common, it would not be difficult to kill time, I had thought.

One of my aged neighbours was quick to reach out to me. In the beginning, I enjoyed the visits and the stories he narrated. Slowly, it began to dawn on me that he was repeating the stories. I also found out that his hearing was gravely impaired. His son had taken him to a doctor, who had prescribed a hearing aid after the usual tests, but he would rarely use it as he did not want others to know that he was hard of hearing.

People complained that they had to repeat what they said many times to make him understand. They were now avoiding his company as well as phone calls, but the clever chap used his wife’s phone to ring them up. He used to watch cricket matches and keep the volume very high, thus irritating his immediate neighbours. He also liked to ride a scooter on the nearby road, again without wearing his hearing aid. It was a busy road and his escapades gave tense moments to his family members at home. Thankfully, nothing untoward happened.

He was a frequent visitor to my house as he wanted to talk on all matters under the sun. I had to be attentive as he often used to ask questions. I had to repeat my answers and soon got tired of the whole thing.

When I told my grandson about my dilemma, he suggested that I act deaf. I did likewise, and the neighbour stopped coming. He also spread the ‘news’ about my ‘deafness’; this substantially reduced the number of incoming phone calls, much to my relief.