This past weekend I lost my voice. I wasn't sick. Rather, I experienced "severe voice strain" from yelling quite loudly and in a panic-stricken manner at our two large dogs, who were having a violent fight over a tennis ball. At first I was just yelling to try to get their attention and make them stop trying to rip each other's throats out. But when I saw blood, my yelling became louder, more hysterical, and high pitched as I envisioned a new episode of MTV's "Celebrity Death Match" between my two beloved pets. My husband finally heard my cries of distress and, being the TRUE alpha dog in this house, got between the dogs and broke up the fight.
But the damage was done. Evidently, sustaining that volume of shrieking for more than 15 seconds can damage one's vocal cords. Who knew? For those of you who know me well, this was a catastrophic event. It was similar in catastrophicity to a concert pianist breaking all of her fingers, or a professional golfer ruining his favorite plaid pants. My voice is my instrument. I am a talker by vocation, and rarely a moment goes by when I don't exercise my gift.
I even talk in my sleep! So waking up on Saturday morning with absolutely NO VOICE was no small matter. It was HUGE! Yes, yes, for my husband it was a blessing, for which he still hasn't stopped thanking God (even as my voice begins to return). And yes, of course, it afforded me a unique opportunity to practice the highly overrated "art of listening.
" All of that is true. But for the most part, it was just an enormous pain in the arse. However, I decided to make the best of things, as I am wont to do, and in the process I learned a few important lessons.
For instance, on an ironic but unimportant note, when people find out that you can't speak, they tend to SHOUT at you. And you, unable to speak, are thus rendered unable to remind them that you aren't deaf, nor can you ask them to turn down the volume a bit. Fascinating phenomenon, and quite annoying. All you can do is smile and stick your fingers in your ears. And if you try to whisper something to someone out of dire need (which I later found out was a no-no ~ whispering evidently strains the voice more than talking) then people have an overwhelming desire to whisper back to you. It's contagious.
And kind of funny. Try it sometime. One benefit of losing one's voice and only being able to speak in a whisper is that everyone stops and pays close attention to you, something I'm not used to even at the best of times. Even when I had nothing particularly important to say, I could bring an important, deep, spiritual conversation to a complete halt by mouthing something to someone. ME: xxxxx xxxx xxxx BOB: Shhhhhh! SHE SPEAKS! SHE'S TRYING TO SPEAK! WHAT WAS THAT? TRY AGAIN! ME: I like bacon.
Most importantly (and painfully) I discovered that while people would never publicly ridicule a lame, deaf or blind person, temporary mutes are evidently fair game. In other words, it's politically correct to mock and ridicule a person who has lost the ability to speak. I was repeatedly and sniggeringly asked to "speak up" by friends and colleagues who were well aware of my predicament, and yelled at by the teenaged drive-thru worker at a local fast food establishment. Okay, I'll give you that one. What was I doing in a Fast Food Drive-Thru? Well, believe it or not, before I remembered that I couldn't speak, I got myself boxed in by other cars in front of the ordering box (one car in back of me, a line in front of me).
BOX: MAY I HAVE YOUR ORDER PLEASE? ME: I'll have a xxxx with a xxxx, no xxxx, and a xxxx, hold the xxxx. BOX: WHAT???? ME: I'll have a xxxx with a xxxx, no xxxx, and a xxxx, hold the xxxx. BOX: I CAN'T HEAR YOU! CAN YOU PLEASE SPEAK UP!? ME: I lost my xxxxx and I can't xxxxx. I'm so xxxxx.
BOX: Much to my embarrassment, a 16 year old with acne and a paper hat came out of the back door of the place to see what the problem was. By now the line in front of me is all but gone, and the people behind me are glaring and wishing me dead, but it's too late for me to sneak away. KID: Ma'am is there a problem? ME: YES! I lost my xxxxx and can't xxxxx xxxxx for you xx hear xx.
KID: What??? ME: I -- lost -- my -- voice -- and -- can't -- talk -- any -- louder. KID: YOU LOST YOUR VOICE? ME: KID: AND SOMETHING IS WRONG WITH YOUR NOSE?? ME: I -- lost -- my -- voice . KID: YOU LOST YOUR VOICE AND YOU ARE TRYING TO ORDER FOOD IN A DRIVE THRU.
ME: KID: OKAY, MA'AM, CAN YOU PLEASE PULL OVER TO THE SIDE AND LET THESE OTHER, SPEAKING PEOPLE, CONTINUE ON THROUGH THE LINE AND WE'LL TAKE CARE OF YOU OVER THERE. I can't speak, and he's already directing the huge traffic jam behind me like he's landing flights on the deck of an aircraft carrier ~ so I can't explain to the little Nazi that I made a mistake, that I got stuck in the line before I remembered I couldn't talk. I can't tell him that I'll just leave and eat a peanut butter and jelly sandwich at home wallowing in my shame. No, I am stuck now, pulling over to the side of the line where the people who have the nerve to order enough food for an entire soccer team are banished, and where, much to my further embarrassment, the manager (a 19 year old with acne and a paper hat) walks purposefully over to my car with one of those plastic picture-menus they use with people who can't read.
I dejectedly point at symbol for the burger with cheese, and then make a stab at a large Coke. The manager SHOUTS the order back at me to confirm it, I nod grimly, and then he SHOUTS how much I owe him. He returns a few minutes later with my food, and all but pats me on the head before he walks back to rule his kingdom of speaking people. .
By: Susan Ryder
