In my computer there are different documents. One of them is "Original thoughts and observations" with more than a dozen pages. Years ago I recorded a thought, "Hearing is for other people. Seeing is for ourselves." A couple months ago someone fired a magnum rifle very close to me when I was not ready with inserted earplugs and earmuffs. Instantly I knew my hearing was shot. It is like I'm in the shower and have soap in my ears all the time.

What used to me a theory has been verified in my own experience now.

Did you choose the name Ringman before or after the rifle incident?

I have read that experts say, just one traumatic sound event has very little impact on your hearing. Hmm. I had a hearing test in August at Costco, to establish a baseline. Had an experience just like yours in October, when the rifle went off it felt like somebody pushed a knitting needle in my left ear. I was retested same place at Costco in November...comparing the two graph readouts, I lost 28% in the left ear from just that one mishap. Fortunately for the state of matrimony, the new hearing aids were able to compensate for the damage.

When I was a kid my grandpa would take me to the rifle range and I would spend the hours shooting my Remington 788 in 30-30 till my heart was content. Grandpa would just sit back on a bench and patiently drink his coffee while watching me shoot. One afternoon everything was going like it always did but this time after I fired a shot grandpa said his right ear popped and was ringing. Grandpa wasn’t wearing ear plugs (neither was I iirc) and he figured it would get better in time but it never did. Grandpa suffered from tinnitus with the constant annoying ringing in his ear for the rest of his life. He eventually got hearing aids but I think they were more annoying to him than the alternative….plus he couldn’t pretend to not hear grandma if he had his hearing aid in place. 😁

My eyesight and my sense of humor are the 2 senses I safeguard and would miss the most.

I was trying to figure out whether to study art or philosophy...

So, I drew a conclusion.

You should go see an oddityologist.

😂

I remember walking to school when I was 7.

I wondered what the ringing in my ears was. I realized that it was from shooting with my dad the day before. It didn’t really bother me at the time and I associated it with the fun I had shooting.

I shot and hunted without hearing protection until the age of 30. I always thought you were some kind of pussy to have to use ear muffs.

I started shooting skeet. I was shooting at the club one day without ear or eye protection when an old timer came up to me and asked me why I didn’t have any. I told him I never have used any and I was fine. He informed me that eye and ear pro were club rules and it was important.

Have used them ever since but wish I was taught so early. I’ve had tinnitus since the age of 7 and have some high frequency hearing loss

I’m just used to it, but it sucks