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Don’t Make the #$%& Bell Ring!

by Neil Bauman, Ph.D.

My friend Michele has a hearing loss. She explained:

I was in Home Depot yesterday morning. While waiting for the nice man who offered to cut a threaded rod for me, I was standing near the entrance of the tool rental area. Evidently there is a motion sensor that triggers a bell to let the tool rental employees know they have a customer.

I kept seeing the gentleman that worked there coming and going from the back room, but figured he was just busy with his work.

Finally, he came over and asked me to move from where I was standing, that it was me setting off the bell. Clearly he was a little perturbed that I was so dense as to not realize I was the cause of the bell going off repeatedly.

Long ago I might have apologized and felt bad that I had irritated the employee, and given him the benefit of the doubt for not knowing I can’t hear, but I’m over it.

As the employee turned, without waiting for a reply from me, I said (in a very nice tone), “I’m deaf, I can’t hear the bell.”

The man turned, and from the look on his face I expected him to dissolve into a puddle at my feet. He offered a sincere apology.

I gave him his moment of humiliation, then very nicely assured him that it was okay—just as I did not know I was triggering the bell, he did not know I was deaf.

I didn’t take any pleasure in this mans’ humiliation, but by allowing him to experience it, he, hopefully, learned to think a little further than “Boy, is she stupid not to know she is the reason that d*** bell keeps going off!

This is a right way of teaching people about your hearing loss—and an excellent way of successfully resolving sticky hard of hearing situations.

Thanks for the lesson Michele. Also, thanks for letting me know there are bells hooked up to motion sensors. It never crossed my mind that they did such things in stores. In my experience, you have to physically “ring the bell” when you want service—not just stand there.

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Hearing Loss Research & Resources

Free Visor Cards

Download your free Visor Cards for hard of hearing or deaf people here.

Loop Systems

Loop your home or meeting room. Discover how you can hear wonderfully clear sound again when listening to the TV/radio, etc, or when listening to a speaker at a meeting.

Loop systems are one of the best-kept secrets in town. To learn more about Loop Systems and what they can do for you, click here.

Take Control of Your Tinnitus—Here’s How

If your ears ring, buzz, chirp, hiss, click or roar, you know just how annoying tinnitus can be. You do not have to put up with this racket for the rest of your life. This book teaches you many things you can do to help bring your tinnitus under your control so it no longer bothers you.

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Sounds Now Too Loud for You?

Hypersensitive to Sound front coverIf some (or all) normal sounds seem so loud they “blow the top of your head off”, or make you wince or jump, or cause you headaches or ear pain, or affect your balance, or result in fear or annoyance of sounds so you feel you have to avoid these sounds, this book is for you!

Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

Hearing Phantom Sounds?

When hard of hearing people begin hearing phantom voices or music, they immediately worry they are going crazy. It never crosses their minds that they are sane and are just experiencing Musical Ear syndrome.

To learn more about the strange phantom sounds of Musical Ear syndrome and what you can do about them, click here to read a comprehensive article about Musical Ear Syndrome.

Or get the book—Learn More | Add to Cart—Printed | Add to Cart—eBook

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Center for Hearing Loss Help

Neil G. Bauman, Ph.D.

1013 Ridgeway Drive, Lynden,
WA 98264-1057 USA

Email: neil@hearinglosshelp.com

Phone: 360-778-1266 (M-F 9:00 AM-5:00 PM PST)

© 2025 Center for Hearing Loss Help – Help for your hearing loss, tinnitus and other ear conditions

"The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life [which also includes perfect hearing] through Jesus Christ our Lord." [Romans 6:23]

"But know this, in the last days perilous times will come" [2 Timothy 3:1]. "For there will be famines, pestilences, and [severe] earthquakes in various places" [Matthew 24:7], "distress of nations, the sea and the waves roaring"—tsunamis, hurricanes—Luke 21:25, but this is good news if you have put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, for "when these things begin to happen, lift up your heads [and rejoice] because your redemption draws near" [Luke 21:28].