The good, the bad, and the equivocal

I've been thinking about hearing loss in the "good news, bad news" framework lately.
Of course, at first glance, it's all bad news, but there are little rays of light, like the fact that you can sleep through a thunderstorm.

Here are a few thoughts; please send me yours:

Good:
I can ignore things much more effectively (commercials, little speakers at the gas pump that holler at you while you pump your gas). I call it "studied oblivioiusness."
I often hear something very different than what is really going on, and sometimes it's amusing. On the plane yesterday, the flight attendant's announcements sounded (through my earplugs) exactly like bluegrass music. I had to pull the plugs out to convince myself that it wasn't bluegrass.
My parrot has learned how to leave my hearing aids alone, and that she had better be on my "good ear" side if she wants me to hear her insisting on getting her way.

Bad:
I can become isolated without even realizing it; just get lost in my thoughts and space out.
I have to be especially careful to let people in my neighborhood know I'm hearing impaired. Otherwise, they could call "hello" to me from next door and I wouldn't respond. This doesn't help with the isolation part, either.
My parrot broke a piece off my hearing aid once.
Too many people don't know enough about being an educated consumer of hearing aids, and end up with aids that either don't work, or aren't the right aids for them.